Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This book SHOOK me. I went into this with both high and low expectations. This book is a bestseller and I've seen it literally every time I go book shopping, whether it's a poster or it's displayed or something, it's always there. So that should've gotten me hype and it did but since I tried reading this as an ebook a year or so ago (before I really got into reading again) and didn't really enjoy the part of it I read then, I was still expecting those same feelings. NOPE. I ended up loving this
Summary
Everyone in Shaker Heights was talking about it that summer: how Isabelle, the last of the Richardson children, had finally gone around the bend and burned the house down.
In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is meticulously planned – from the layout of the winding roads, to the colours of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.
Enter Mia Warren – an enigmatic artist and single mother – who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenage daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than just tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the alluring mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past, and a disregard for the rules that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.
When the Richardsons' friends attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town and puts Mia and Mrs. Richardson on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Mrs. Richardson becomes determined to uncover the secrets in Mia's past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs to her own family – and Mia's.
Ahhhh I loved this book so much. So much that I have been procrastinating writing the review because I'm nervous that I won't do the book justice. But then I told my mom she HAD to read it and she's liking it so far... so I figured that should be enough motivation for me to write this review.
One of the things that I liked about this book was how I didn't really know where the plot was going. That is such a strange thing for me to say because that is actually one of my pet peeves of books; when the plot has no direction. But in this book it just made sense. However, the farther you get into the book there are some plot directions that push it towards some major points in the story but then you get pulled out and into something completely different while still making sense and keeping my attention. It was a very unique way to tell a story and it very well could've been a miss with me but I ended up really loving it in the end.
Talking about the end, that was the one thing that I felt lacked. Maybe it was because I pretty much knew the ending from the beginning? I'm not sure, but I just felt that there were some loose ends that I wanted tied up. That totally goes against the grain of the rest of the book however because everything is random and more real to life. In life there are some loose ends that you'll never find the answer to and you just have to deal. So I guess while the ending lacked for me, it didn't necessarily make me like the book less it just left me wanting to know what would've happened between characters and what would've happened if some plot points where actually explained to the characters (you'll understand what I mean by that if you've read the book). At the same time, this ending is what made the book good because it followed the 'trueness to life' feeling that the rest of the book had so I don't know. I'm conflicted. But that isn't a bad thing.
Ah the characters were beautiful. I loved the contrast between the Richardson's and Mia & Pearl. The dynamic ended up working so well while still being so different. I also enjoyed how as the story progressed you got to know tiny tidbits about the characters that might've been skipped over in other books. I just loved the direction that every character went in. There were some that I felt could've had a little more explanation and depth (Moody & Trip) but I understand they weren't the main focus of the story. Even though I'm still not 100% sure what the main focus was. I loved the relationships that came to be, especially Mia & Izzy and Mia & Lexie. I admired Mia because she openly let the two girls into her life and comforted them in the way that they needed without really expecting anything in return, or even wanting anything. I can tell that Mia has a kind heart even though she has some baggage and loose ends in her own story.
The main thing that shook me about this story was May Ling / Mirabelle baby thing! I cannot imagine something so intimate being publicized like that, even though more intense stuff is like that in the news today. I guess it just irritated me but I can't really tell you why because I don't really know where I stand on the argument. It's complicated in my head because I am adopted. So the whole time I kept thinking about what if I was May Ling / Mirabelle, what would I want to happen? Who really should end up getting me? Why? Ugh it just pulled at my heart strings. Of course my adoption is completely different because it's open and I know and talk to my birth parents all the time but it was interesting to see that aspect in a story near or around the same time I was born (Story takes place in the 90s I'm pretty sure, and I was born in 1999).
Along with that, there were also just a lot of interesting subjects touched on in this book. Complicated adoptions, being a surrogate, abortion, teenage sex, problems with perfectionism, and other things that really grabbed my interest.
So even if you don't think you'd enjoy this book I still recommend it to you. Whatever taste you have in books, I think you could find something enjoyable about this book. Or if you're like me, you'll just absolutely love it and rate it five stars.
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