Things Left Unsaid

This one was quite simply a miss for me. There was a lot of drinking and a lot of flashbacks to even more drinking. There weren't a lot of people in the story who actually had anything stable in their lives, and for most of the book the pastor's wife (pastor and his wife being one of the only stable relationships in the character pool) comes across as super judgy and opinionated. I normally love stories of people overcoming their pasts, but in this one the balance felt off because the past was still stuck to the characters like a ball and chain around their ankles, and while the ending was good an enjoyable, I'd have liked more of that hope and positivity to enjoy; it just felt brief after the whole wading-through-old-junk phase of the first 90%.

Also I had a bit of suspension of belief that a psychologist would prop up a marriage for ten years and that it would crumble so suddenly after not being nurtured for that long; the time frame needed to be there for the story to work, but the execution was a stretch for me.

I'll be looking forward to the next Courtney Walsh book! The miss of this one is just because my drama-tolerance is low. If you read a lot of YA, this one may be enjoyable to you.

Content:
drinking
getting drunk
references to having sex and a flashback fade to black scene

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free reading copy. A favorable review was not required. I actually “read” the final-version audiobook instead.