Review: The Winners (by Fredrik Backman)

My Rating:  5 stars



A couple days ago, I received a surprise in my email box that made me squeal with delight.  An advance copy of a book that I've been dying to read since January but didn't think I would get the chance to until October, landed unexpectedly in my inbox and my first reaction was to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming (I wasn't). My second reaction (after I stopped screaming of course, lol), was trying to decide whether to forego all upcoming reads that I had lined up (including anything I was currently reading) so I could jump on this one right away — which is exactly what I ended up doing.  The book I'm referring to is Fredrik Backman's The Winners, which is the third (and final) book in the Beartown series.  I read Beartown and its sequel Us Against You for the first time back in January and fell absolutely head over heels in love with the story as well as the characters.  I loved both books and when I heard that the last book in the series would come out in the fall of this year, I was agonizingly counting down the days until I could get my hands on a copy (given this context, it probably makes sense now why I was so delighted to have received an ARC so many months in advance of publication)!  As is usually the case when I pick up one of Backman's novels (not to mention this one being Beartown-related), I knew I would be so absorbed in the story that I wouldn't be able to tear myself away, so I decided to start this on a Saturday, which would give me the entire weekend to read non-stop if it came down to that (a sensible decision, especially when I saw that this book clocks in at nearly 700 pages!).   In the end, I finished this one in a matter of hours, which is nothing short of a miracle for me (though worth every single minute I spent on it). 

The story opens 2 years after the last events in Us Against You where, in addition to being reunited with all the beloved characters from the first 2 books, we are also introduced to a few new ones who, by the end of the book, still managed to find a place in my heart despite their relatively brief appearances.  Going into this third book, I was already expecting it to be an emotionally charged read for me, just like the previous 2 books were, but what I wasn't expecting was the extent of the emotional impact — perhaps because, not long after the story opens, it hits me that this will actually be my last opportunity to spend time with these characters that I had grown to love so much, or perhaps because I already had an idea of the tragedy that would occur at the conclusion of the story (even though the previous 2 books had already dropped hints as to what the fates would be of certain characters and so I had time to brace for impact, it didn't make the moment, when it occurred, any less heart wrenching). Perhaps it was also my mindset going into this, knowing it was going to be the final chapter to a beloved series, it made each moment — whether happy, sad, sweet, upsetting — feel much more pronounced and poignant.  I was actually quite conflicted while reading this because on the one hand, I didn't want to let these characters go, so part of me wanted to read slowly and prolong my time with them, but then on the other hand, I was eager to find out what was going to happen and whether they would be okay in the end.

I am going to keep this review deliberately short, as it is incredibly difficult to talk about any of the plot points that occur without giving away too much of the story (especially if you haven't yet read the previous 2 books in the series).  To be honest, I feel that the blurb describing the book already reveals too much — if you decide to pick this one up, especially if you've already read the first 2 books and are as big a fan of the series as I am, I would recommend not even reading the blurb and going straight into the book itself (I know for me, the mere fact of this being "Beartown #3" was enough for me to dive right in, lol).  And if it so happens that you haven't read the first 2 books yet (I only just read them earlier this year myself, even though both books have been out for quite some time already), definitely read those 2 first before attempting his one, as being able to see all the characters grow and evolve throughout all 3 books makes the reading experience so much more special.  Also, if you do decide to pick this one up, just make sure you have some tissues handy because while the events that happened in this one were a fitting conclusion to the entire series (I loved how Backman brilliantly and masterfully  brought the story arc full circle), it was also sad and bittersweet.  

It's not often that I rate all the books in a series 5 stars, but this one absolutely deserves it!  I'm not much of a re-reader nowadays, as I already don't have a whole lot of time to read in general due to work and family priorities, so I prefer to spend that time chipping away at my ridiculously huge TBR of first time reads, but this is a series that I can totally see myself re-reading at some point, which says a lot about how much I loved the entire series.  

Received ARC from Atria Books via NetGalley.

Review: The Younger Wife (by Sally Hepworth)

My Rating:  3 stars

I finished an ARC of this book yesterday and to be honest, I'm still trying to process how I feel about it.  While this was a good story overall and Sally Hepworth is no doubt a talented writer (I've read other books she's written and liked them all well enough), I will be honest in saying that I wasn't particularly enamored with this one after I finished it.  For one, I didn't like the ending, and two, the way some of the female characters in the story were portrayed (especially in relation to the male characters) bothered me more than I expected. Also, plot-wise, there was way too much ambiguity throughout the story in my opinion (yes, I know this is a thriller and in a sense, some ambiguity is expected, but still…) — this annoyed me a bit because I felt like I had to suspend disbelief way too many times (especially with Tully's and Heather's story arcs) — not only that though, some parts of the story actually didn't make sense, (including the ending). When I finished reading this book, my first reaction was to scratch my head and try to parse what exactly I had just read.  My second reaction was an urge to go back and re-download the ARC because I thought, perhaps, I was missing a few pages at the end somewhere, because the ending of the book frustrated me.  My third reaction was a curiosity to read through reviews to see 1) what other readers' reactions were, and 2) whether I was the only one who didn't really "get" the story. And this is where my entire reading experience with this book veered off into something I had never encountered before.  

As I was reading reviews, I came across various comments that mentioned about the finished copy of the book actually having a very different ending from the ARC version.  Given that I wasn't keen on the story's ending (in the version I had read), I was curious, so naturally, I hunted down a finished copy of the book so I could read the "new" ending. As it turns out, it wasn't just the ending that changed — majority of the last chapter (the one right before the epilogue) had changed as well.  Now of course, I've read enough ARCs to understand that changes between the advance and finished copies are common…but the thing is, these changes were actually QUITE significant— to the point that it took the story in an ENTIRELY different direction.  In fact, in my opinion, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that those changes, even though only to the last chapter and the epilogue (at least I think that was it, as I didn't re-read the entire book), turned this into a completely different story from what I had originally read.  

While I have to admit that the changes did make the entire story more believable (not to mention the parts that didn't make sense earlier actually made sense now), the overall experience itself (reading the ARC, then finding out that the finished copy had significant changes and subsequently having to hunt down a finished copy to read the changes) unfortunately left a bad taste in my mouth.  In a way, I felt cheated, but more upsetting was that I felt like I had wasted my time reading an ARC when I could've just read the finished copy (this is exacerbated by the fact that I already don't have much time to read due to work and life obligations, plus I have a mile-high TBR that I'm trying to get through).  Perhaps I'm overreacting and I wouldn't fault anyone for saying that, but for a reader like me, who views the reading experience as being just as important as the contents of the book being read, this type of thing affects me more than it probably should.

Having said all that, I decided to rate this one based on my initial reaction to it, which is that I thought the premise had a lot of potential and Rachel's story arc especially kept me engaged and absorbed in the story, but overall the way things went down with the plot, (and the ending) left much to be desired.  So I ended up rating this 3 stars based on the ARC (of course, if I had read only the finished copy in its entirety, my rating would most likely be different).

Lastly, I will say that I am very obviously the outlier with this one so definitely check out other reviews as well.  And if you do decide to pick this one up, might be better off reading the finished copy rather than an ARC, as it will likely impact the way you react to the story.

Received ARC from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley.

Review: Peach Blossom Spring (by Melissa Fu)



My Rating: 3.5 stars

In recent years, there has been much discussion about the saturation of World War II era books in the market.  While this is definitely true, and with that, many people's general weariness over reading yet another book set in this time period is absolutely understandable, part of me still hopes that people don't give up on books set in this time period just yet, primarily because the fact remains that too few of these books tell about WWII from the less widespread perspective of the Asian nations that either participated in the war or were severely impacted by it.  This is why I felt that Melissa Fu's debut novel Peach Blossom Spring— despite falling a tad short of expectations for me (more on this later) — was still very much worth reading overall.  

In this generational story that spans decades, Fu explores the impact of WWII (as well as its aftermath) through the experiences of the fictional Dao family.  With the onset of the Japanese invasion of China, wealthy and shrewd patriarch Dao Hongtse, who owns a lucrative kerosene and antiques shop in Changsha, sees his family torn apart when his youngest son Xiaowen is killed in battle, leaving behind his young wife Meilin and their 4-year-old son Renshu. Devastated by the loss of his most beloved son, Hongtse withdraws into himself and turns most of his business over to eldest son Longwei, who has returned home after also fighting in the war.  Not long after Longwei returns however, news breaks out about the Japanese army's imminent advance into the city, forcing the family to leave nearly everything behind and flee their home.  As they travel across their war-ravaged country seeking refuge and ultimately survival, Meilin and Renshu rely on the stories from an ancient scroll for solace.  After the war, Meilin and Renshu settle in Taiwan, which eventually becomes "home" for them.

The second half of the story focuses primarily on Dao Renshu, who, as an adult, has settled in the United States.  Having adopted the name Henry Dao, Renshu pursues his graduate studies and eventually meets Rachel, whom he marries and subsequently they have one daughter, Lily.  As Henry becomes more immersed in his life as an American, he starts to distance himself from his past and his tumultuous childhood growing up during the war.  Even though he continues to stay in constant communication with his mother Meilin in Taiwan, he feels more and more that his current life in the U.S. as Henry Dao is incongruous with the boy he was growing up in China and Taiwan. Believing that the only way to keep his family safe is to separate his past from his present, Henry refuses to reveal much about his childhood, despite his daughter Lily's persistence in wanting to understand her heritage.  Much of the second half of the story focuses on Henry's struggles to reconcile his past life and experiences in China with his present one in America.

As I mentioned at the beginning of my review, this book ended up falling a bit short of expectations for me (though having said that, I'm still glad I decided to pick this one up).  While there were many aspects of the story I really liked — such as the character of Meilin, the Chinese cultural elements referenced throughout, the fables revolving around the scroll, etc. — I felt that the writing was too uneven.  The way this was written, I felt like it jumped back and forth too much between long descriptive sentences and short choppy ones, often describing relatively mundane things that I felt weren't really important to the story.  With that said though, the first half of the story, which covers Meilin's story arc, was engaging enough that it was easier to overlook the inconsistencies in the writing - so much so in fact, that I was actually disappointed when Meilin didn't feature as much in the second half of the story.

Speaking of which, that's what didn't work well for me — the second half of the book when the narrative shifted primarily to Renshu's adult life in the U.S.  I felt that these sections were too tedious to read, as there were too many unnecessary descriptions that bogged down the story (mundane things such as describing a character writing a letter, folding it up, putting it in an envelope, licking the flap, putting it in the mail — actions that could be described simply in one sentence were drawn out over several sentences). The other reason why the second half of the story (Renshu's story arc) didn't hold my interest as much as the first half (Meilin's story arc) is because the latter half veered too much into the political tension between China and Taiwan — a topic that I'm already very familiar with having grown up surrounded by constant discussion about the potential fates of Hong Kong and Taiwan in relation to China.  At times, I felt like I was reading an overly drawn out primer on China and Taiwan geopolitics that was geared more toward those who may not necessarily be familiar with the history and context behind it.  There were also some parts that came across like the characters were reciting matter-of-fact historical tidbits rather than having actual conversations with each other.  For me, this definitely detracted from the overall story, but not only that, it also made the story less emotionally resonant when it had the potential to be so much more.  

Overall, I would say that this was a good story with a premise that had a lot of potential, but needed more refinement in terms of writing and execution.  Because of this, deciding how to rate this book was agonizing for me, as the first half I felt was pretty strong (and I would probably rate 4 stars), but the second half was definitely a struggle that took me way longer to get through (and to be honest, I probably would've rated 2-3 stars on its own).  In the end, I chose a happy medium of 3.5 stars, mostly because I truly did love and appreciate the first half of the story, despite some elements that didn't quite work for me.

Received ARC from Little, Brown and Company via NetGalley.  

Review: The Diamond Eye (by Kate Quinn)

My Rating:  4.5 stars

Kate Quinn has done it again!  This tremendously talented author (one of my favorites) has once again written another engrossing, transportive work of historical fiction with a strong, formidable female protagonist at its center.   In a provocative narrative based on the real life story of Lyudmila "Mila" Pavlichenko, a Russian librarian and history student turned deadly sniper, Quinn returns to the WWII time period of her previous novel, except this time, the focus is on the Soviet front and the physical battles fought during the war.  Mila's story is fascinating in its own right, but through her beautifully rendered prose, Quinn truly brings this little-known war heroine to life.  I love the way Quinn writes her characters in all her books and this time around was no exception.  With the character of Mila, I appreciated how, despite the moniker "Lady Death" and a tally of 309 kills to her name, the focus throughout most of the story wasn't really on her fame per se, but rather, on her humanity.   Mila was formidable, but never hostile, and in the face of everything she had to deal with — taking care of her son as a single mother, pushing back against the bias and prejudices she had to endure on a daily basis in her field of work, fending off those with bad intentions toward her, being tasked with defending her country against foreign advances, etc. — the tremendous strength and fortitude she consistently displayed was nothing short of admirable.

This was a meticulously researched, engaging story that I found difficult to put down.  I learned a lot about a segment of WWII history that I was less familiar with, which I appreciated, as I always hope to learn something from my reading experiences.   Kate Quinn's novels have all been 5 star reads for me up to this point and while this one was indeed wonderful, it did fall a tad bit short this time around, mostly because I felt parts of the story leaned a little too much into the technical aspects related to weaponry and battle, which has never been a subject of interest for me. Also, I felt the storyline involving Alexei went on for way too long, and the way he seemed to keep popping up all over the place honestly kind of annoyed me.

One thing I do have to mention — given the context of what is going on in the world currently involving Russia and Ukraine, it was honestly hard to read this book and not feel impacted in some way by the similarities of war.  This would be the one caution about reading this book during this time.  

That notwithstanding though, The Diamond Eye is a magnificent story that is absolutely well-worth the read.  Highly recommended!! 

Received ARC from William Morrow and Company via NetGalley.

Review: The Next Thing You Know (by Jessica Strawser)

My Rating:  4 stars



The  past 2 months have been extremely exhausting for me due to having to deal with several major crises at work. Things have been rough and even though we're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, I anticipate that it will take several more months for things to truly settle down.  I mention this because, as much as I tried to prevent it, the physical and mental exhaustion from work unfortunately seeped into my personal life as well.  Over the past couple weeks especially, there were way too many moments where I struggled to summon up enough energy (both physically and mentally) to pick up a book and just read — either my mind would wander (inevitably to something related to work) or I would be so tired physically that I would doze off after a couple pages. Normally, reading is a "de-stressor" for me;  it's something I look forward to after a long, difficult day filled with more challenges than I feel I'm equipped to handle.   Because of this, my current circumstances of not being able to concentrate as much as I want to on something I love and enjoy is extremely frustrating, to say the least. Having said all this though, one thing I do know is that this situation is only temporary and I'm pretty confident that, in the not too distant future, I will be able to emerge from this difficult period and get back into the groove of my usual reading routine.

Part of the reason I decided to start this review with the above (aside from me just needing to vent so I can finally get this off my chest), is because going through what I did the past few months helped me to better relate, on some small level, with the main characters in this book (though of course, my situation pales in comparison to the truly "life and death" struggles that the characters face).  Nova Huston is an end of life doula whose job is to help the terminally ill who are seeking to make peace with their impending deaths.  Mason Shaylor is a singer-songwriter facing the grim prospect of a debilitating condition not only putting an end to his career, but also to life as he knows it.  The two cross paths when Mason hired Nova to help him come to terms with his decision.  As they spend more and more time together, Mason and Nova find that they have more in common than either of them expected, and when a connection forms that deepens their relationship, that makes it all the harder to let go.

Truth be told, prior to reading this book, I had absolutely no clue what a "death doula" was.  With the marketing for this book comparing it to Me Before You (which I personally feel is unjustified, as both stories are nowhere near similar), I had the misconception at first (as it seems many other readers did) that a doula was someone who helped with assisted suicides.  That's an incorrect assumption of course, and the story goes to great lengths to explain what a doula actually does.  In this regard, I felt that the author, Jessica Strawser, did a good job shining a light on a profession that few people know much about.  As I'm usually big on learning something when I read, I definitely appreciated this aspect of the story and Strawser's efforts here. 

Overall, I liked this one quite a bit — it was a solid story with an interesting premise that was well-written and obviously well-researched.  Having said that though, the story itself was the slow-burn type and also meandered a bit at times, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but it did leave me wondering at some points where Strawser was trying to go with the plot and characters.  I felt that the structure of the story was interesting as well, with the narrative alternating between the perspectives of both the two main characters as well as a few others — though with that said, the timeline jumping back and forth between past and present as often as it did made parts of the story a little hard to follow at times.

Ever since her debut novel 5 years ago made a pretty big impression on me, Strawser has become an auto read author for me.  While not all of her subsequent works were "hits" for me, most were enjoyable enough that I would say my overall experience reading her books has been a positive one. One of the things I really like about Strawser's books in general is that she does try to reinvent herself every so often by attempting different genres, often while exploring difficult themes.  I continue to look forward to Strawser's upcoming works.

Received ARC from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley

 

Review: Under the Golden Sun (by Jenny Ashcroft)

My Rating: 4 stars

I remember starting off my 2021 reading year last year with Jenny Ashcroft's previous novel Meet Me in Bombay, which I had been apprehensive about at first, but ended up truly enjoying.  At the time, Ashcroft was a "new-to-me" author writing in a genre (historical romance) that could sometimes be a "hit or miss" category for me. After having enjoyed that novel, I went into her newest release, Under the Golden Sun, with higher expectations and I'm happy to report that this one definitely did not disappoint.  In fact, I actually ended up enjoying this one more, perhaps because I found the story more emotionally resonant, for one, and two, I loved all the characters in here — Rose, Walter, Max, Vivian, Esme, Lauren, etc. — to the point that I didn't want their story to end.  

Of course, going into this, I already knew it would be a love story, but unlike Ashcroft's previous novel, this one definitely felt more well-balanced in terms of the way the historical elements and setting (Australia during WWII period) were incorporated into the story. In other words, the love story didn't overwhelm the plot, but rather complemented it.  Much of this is attributed to the beautiful, atmospheric writing, with its vividly-rendered descriptions of the lush Australian landscape against the backdrop of the historical events of the time period.  Even though there were moments of frustration with some of the characters and at times, I felt like yelling out in exasperation during a few scenes, I found myself captivated by the story overall and felt compelled to keep turning the pages in order to find out what happens to these characters that eventually grew on me.  

One thing that surprised me about my reading experience with this book is the resonance I felt with the story, especially on an emotional level.  I wasn't expecting this book to both make me laugh and make me cry at various points of the story, but that's exactly what it did.  I appreciate a book that makes me feel as much as one that makes me ponder and reflect and this one definitely fits the bill.  With this newest release, Ashcroft adds yet another solid historical novel to her repertoire— I can't wait to read what she comes out with next!

Received ARC from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley

Review: The Golden Couple (by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen)

My Rating:  4 stars

This is the fourth suspense / thriller novel by writing duo Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen that I've read.  Up to this point, I have read all the books they've written and while all were good, none have lived up to their debut novel The Wife Between Us (which was one of those rare thrillers that actually blew me away to the point that I still remember most of the story several years after having read it).  For me, what had set their debut novel apart was the fact that the "shocking twist" in the story was written in a way that truly and unexpectedly floored me — something that doesn't happen often given the number of suspense / thriller novels I read.  However, unfortunately, their subsequent novels weren't able to capture that same level of "excitement" for me (don't get me wrong though — I still enjoyed reading each one, just not to the extent that I enjoyed the first one). Given that context, I went into their newest release, The Golden Couple, already anticipating that it wasn't going to live up to the "thrill" of their first book (and I was right).  While the story definitely did have a lot of compelling moments that were unexpected (and I actually did not figure out the ending), I felt like the writing was a little less smooth this time around, which at times broke the flow of the story for me. 

On the surface, the premise of the story sounds like one that we've heard countless times before: wealthy, suburban couple Matthew and Marissa Bishop live the perfect life, with a marriage that's the envy of the town. However, their idyllic bliss is shattered when Marissa has an affair.  Desperate to repair her marriage, Marissa seeks the help of Avery Chambers, a therapist whose unorthodox methods have proven so successful that she is still highly sought after despite having lost her professional license.   As Avery embarks on her "ten sessions" therapy with the Bishops and enters deeper into their orbit, she begins to realize that there is more than meets the eye with this "golden" couple.  

Not wanting to give away the story of course, I don't want to say too much more about the plot other than what I mentioned above. I will say though, that Avery's story arc was much more interesting than Marissa's — partly because I felt there was too much repetition with Marissa's sections that ended up dragging out the plot a bit more than necessary.  

With all that said, I did enjoy this one overall and I think that those who are already familiar with Hendricks' and Pekkanen's previous works won't be disappointed.  If this is your first time reading this writing duo's books though, I would definitely recommend going with The Wife Between Us, and then moving on to their other works after that.

Received ARC from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley

Review: Elsewhere (by Alexis Schaitkin)

My Rating: 3.5 stars



When I first got my hands on this ARC of Alexis Schaitkin's sophomore novel  Elsewhere, I was definitely excited to read it, as I had really enjoyed her debut novel Saint X and couldn't wait to see what she would have for us next.  

Now having finished this, I have to say that it was not what I expected.  The writing was actually beautiful and I loved the magical quality of the prose, which flowed so lyrically and seamlessly throughout the story.  Having said that though, the experience of reading this book was actually quite a struggle for me, mostly because, from beginning to end, I wasn't really sure what I was reading.  The world that the main character Vera inhabited was completely foreign to me and I honestly couldn't relate to her actions (or those of any of the other characters) at all.  Much of the plot didn't make a whole lot of sense to me either, though this has nothing to do with the quality of the work per se, but rather my own inability to comprehend the nuances of the story.  

This book falls heavily into the speculative, dystopian fiction category, which is not a genre that I typically read, so I guess it's not a surprise that I struggled through it.  While I don't regret reading this, I definitely prefer Schaitkin's debut novel over this one — though with that said, I also admire her ability to put out a second novel that is so markedly different from the first one.  The imagery in Elsewhere is vivid and stunning, especially when describing the "world" in the mountains that Vera called home.  

Overall, this was a good book, and well-written too, but unfortunately, it just wasn't for me. Hopefully Schaitkin's next book will work better for me.

Received ARC from Celadon Books via Celadon Early Reader program.

Review: Phantoms (by Christian Kiefer)

My Rating: 4 stars

This was an interesting read about a period of history that I was familiar with, but told from a perspective that I found to be unique and different from what I expected. The story is told from the point of view of John Frazier, who has just returned to Placer County, California from service in Vietnam and finds himself haunted by what he did and saw while deployed there. He crashes at his grandmother's house while trying to overcome a drug addiction, which is made more difficult given the "phantoms" of his past that seem to constantly follow him. While working at a local gas station, he is unexpectedly reunited with a distant relative — his aunt Evelyn Wilson — who asks him to drive her to Oakland to see a friend. It is there that John becomes a reluctant witness to an encounter between Evelyn and her former tenant Kimiko Takahashi, and subsequently becomes ensnared in the mystery of what happened to the Takahashi's son Ray. John finds out that the Takahashi and Wilson families used to be close, but during the onset of World War II, the Takahashis were sent to an internment camp, along with all the other Japanese-Americans in the country. Several years later, Ray returned to Placer County after having served in the war, but discovered that he was no longer welcome in the place where he grew up — the only place he had ever considered home. What happened after that does not become known until nearly three decades later, when John unwittingly learns the truth and must decide how to reckon with it.

As I mentioned earlier, one of the things I thought most interesting about this book was the unique narrative structure, where the person telling the story (and from his own first person point of view too) didn't even have anything to do with the main story arc. In essence, he was a "stranger" drawn into a reckoning between two families, and, on a larger scale, a reckoning with the country's past actions toward an entire race. Both wars — Vietnam and WWII — serve mostly as backdrops, with the focus primarily on the aftermath of those wars and the impact from the atrocities that occurred. The writing was lyrical and poignant, though admittedly, there were also moments where it did veer somewhat toward the abstract, which made those parts a bit hard to follow. Having said that, this was overall well-written and well-told — a book that I feel is a necessary read given it's historical context and its timely connection to recent societal issues. Reckoning with the past is not always easy — more so a past as complicated as this one — yet it is an important step to understanding and learning from what happened so as to prevent something similar from ever happening again.

Review: The Unseen World (by Liz Moore)

My Rating: 5 stars

This book blew me away, which, to be honest, I absolutely was not expecting.  When I first read the premise, all the mentions of things like "computer science" and "artificial intelligence" and "virtual reality" and "cryptanalysis" made me wary, as I thought this would be one of those "overly science-y" books that would go way over my head and end up being a struggle to read. Well, I couldn't have been more wrong!  Yes, there was "science stuff" in here and computer as well as coding-related terms that didn't make tremendous sense to me at times — but what I appreciated was that these elements didn't overwhelm the main story; rather, they were more in the background. complementing the story, and only being brought to the forefront occasionally as necessary.

Despite the book's title as well as its science-themed elements, this story, at its core, is actually a coming-of-age tale that follows the main character Ada Sibelius as she navigates an unconventional life raised by her eccentric single father David, who runs a computer science lab in Boston in the 1980s.  Ada is homeschooled and accompanies her father to his lab everyday where she learns the ins-and-outs of his work, so that by the time she is twelve years old, she is already a prodigy in the area of computer tech and coding. It is around this time that David is diagnosed with Alzheimer's and his mind begins to deteriorate more rapidly than anticipated — a diagnosis that deals a devastating blow to Ada, as David was essentially her entire world and now she finds herself unequipped to face the "real" world outside.  Ada goes to live with David's colleague and neighbor Diana Liston, a divorcee with three sons who is also David's closest and most trusted friend. Before Ada has a chance to adjust to the new circumstances of her life however, she finds out that her beloved father actually is not who she (and everyone else who knew him) thought he was.  This leads Ada to embark on a convoluted path to unravel the secrets that David had been hiding — a journey of discovery that follows Ada from adolescence to adulthood and becomes a necessary means to understanding her own existence.

As I mentioned earlier, I went into this one a bit apprehensive, but ended up loving it so much. Admittedly, this is a story that takes awhile to get into, especially the first third or so, as the author Liz Moore takes her time introducing and building up the characters (which definitely pays off in the end given how attached we become to these characters — specifically Ada, David, and Liston). This is very much a character-driven story told primarily through the lens of Ada's coming-of-age and interactions with those around her, yet the arc involving her father David's past and the quest to find out his identity is also written so compellingly. It's always a good sign when I pick up a hefty book such as this one (which clocks in at nearly 500 pages) and find myself unable to put it down because I care so much about these characters and want to keep turning the pages so I can find out as much as possible about them. 

This is the second book of Liz Moore's that I've read (the first one was her newest novel Long Bright River, which I read in early 2020 and also loved) and I've noticed that her stories always seem to have sad undertones to them (probably because she writes about serious, difficult subject matter) where her characters experience their fair share of heartache and pain, and of course things don't necessarily turn out perfectly in the end — though with that said, there is also hope and resilience, which prevents the story from descending into complete bleakness.  

This is a poignant, beautifully written story that is well worth the patience it takes to get through some parts.  It's also a story that invokes thought and self-reflection and definitely won't be easily forgotten.  I'm glad I took a chance on this one and I'm also grateful that this is one of my book club reads, as discussing a book of this nature (where there are aspects I still don't really understand) usually helps clarify and enhance the reading experience for me.  

One last comment that I would like to make about my rating of this book:  throughout the time I was reading, I kept wavering between whether to rate this 4.5 or 5 stars, as I felt it could've gone either way.  Well, in the end, it was the Epilogue (which was amazing!) that pushed this up to 5 stars for me.  Given how much I enjoyed the two Liz Moore novels I've read so far, no doubt that I am definitely interested in exploring her backlist at some point!