Marisa de los Santos

I have no idea how far along I am. Listening to it much longer will depress me and give me nightmares. How awful can ppl be to one another? In a kid's book?! So far no comic relief either. Just brutal historical fiction from two eras.

And the math isn't adding up... how old is Judge Biggs anyway?
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Much further along. The grandfathers are as old as long-generation great-grandfathers and we're just supposed to accept that.

The idea of 'doing the arithmetic' is interesting. Since it's audio I can't check the details, but something about how a lot of little goods can outweigh a bad. Nice idea, but what to do when there's a lot of big bads? How to maintain hope and feel that life is worthwhile when things are so awful as portrayed in 1938 Victory and aspects of 2014 Victory, too?

This is a hard book. More like thriller or true crime than story for young teens. Not for me, really, I sure do hope it's nearly done now.
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Finally. I guess one of the main things is, this is a book that teaches the same way that historical fiction does, but with an 'exciting' gimmick that will attract readers who are tired of hf. Ah, ok. Still not my cup of tea and still not recommending, though.… (more)

This was an amazing novel – first because of the beautiful writing. The descriptions of nature were often poetic, lyrical, and evocative – reminded me of the memorable writing in "Where the Crawdads Sing." As the publisher’s blurb says, the story is a “captivating, beautifully written drama involving family, friendship, secrets, sacrifice, courage, and true love.”

This novel is told in two timelines, the 1950s and the present day. A few weeks before she dies, elderly Edith Herron encourages Clare Hobbes to reconsider her upcoming marriage to Zach. Clare doesn’t know Edith, but her wise words give Clare the courage to follow her heart.

Then three weeks later Clare learns she has inherited Edith’s old but well-kept house on the Delaware shore. She now has “Light and space all my own. A place to breathe easy. I told (Edith) I used to carry my safe place around with me like a turtle, but then, when I got involved with Zach, I somehow stopped.”

Clare’s mother sums it up: “An almost total stranger talked you out of your engagement to the wrong man and then gave you a safe place to go. Unbelievable.”

Thus begins the adventure of Clare and her long-time friend (and former boyfriend) Dev putting together the puzzle pieces. The clues are there for the reader, and sometimes the truth is easier to figure out than other times, but when I had finished the last page I felt satisfied with the story, the characters, and the resolution.

Content warning: vivid descriptions of domestic violence

Apparently, this is the third book with the same characters from the two novels in the series titled: "Love Walked In." It easily reads as a stand-alone, though now I’ll have to go find the earlier two and return to this world and these characters.… (more)