The Descendants

Satisfying and reflective novel putting the inner thoughts of a father and husband dealing with his wife's comatose state and impending death, while trying to help his two daughters accept and battle with grief and loss. Secrets revealed about the less-than-perfect relationships bring more guilt and shame to the situation, but most of the issues are transformed into growth and acceptance.

I liked the way the author used dialogue to create authentic characters and situations. The father, Matt King, became very real to me simply through reading the thoughts he had about his wife, being a parent, dealing with his extended family, etc. I found myself smiling when Scottie, the youngest daughter, would make her awkward remarks and show herself to have so much more going on inside than what she shows to the outside world. All this done simply through Matt's thoughts and conversations with her.

I'd recommend this book to people interested in a beach read, but without lame romance plots or predictable thriller plots. I can see why the book was made into a movie because the setting and pacing of the book seems made for that format. I haven't seen the movie yet, but I want to now because I enjoyed the book.