Set in small town Vermont, the ‘crew’ have grown up together – Danny, Emmett, Murphy, Ruby and Ally.
Ten years on, only Ruby has left town, to go to New York and pursue her dream. But from a young age, the group had promised to always be friends, always loyal and always be truthful. But Danny, the most troubled of the group, commits suicide in his late twenties and now Ruby is confronted with her past as she comes back to lay her friend to rest.
From beyond the grave Danny leaves envelopes for each of his friends, outing each of their ‘secrets’ that have been painfully buried and now threaten to tear the crew apart.
I wanted to like this book as the outside description seemed juicy, and something different and, to a certain extent, I did like it. However this is very ‘American’ in the language, we had ‘kinda’, we had ‘like’ (a lot) and, while the chapters are told from different characters and therefore the language changed, I felt it was a bit too chatty at times.
What’ I did like is that the storyline is engaging. The characters I didn’t really relate to but I found Ruby to be the ‘main’ character and the storyline does centre mostly on hers and Murphy’s turbulent friendship from teenagers to the present. The chapters veer from ‘now’ to ‘then’ and I found the ‘then’ storyline more interesting as we see how the characters develop into adulthood. The ‘now’ storyline focuses firstly on the friends' reunion at the funeral of Danny and then a slightly more cheerful subject!
The book is short at under 300 pages which I read most of just over a weekend in the garden and is gripping enough to want to continue. It’s an easy read as each chapter is approximately ten pages long which ensures you will speed through it and it’s interesting enough to hold your attention.
There’s a bit of everything in there - first love, marriage, drug abuse, mental health issues and keeping secrets from those you love. Four stars.
Ten years on, only Ruby has left town, to go to New York and pursue her dream. But from a young age, the group had promised to always be friends, always loyal and always be truthful. But Danny, the most troubled of the group, commits suicide in his late twenties and now Ruby is confronted with her past as she comes back to lay her friend to rest.
From beyond the grave Danny leaves envelopes for each of his friends, outing each of their ‘secrets’ that have been painfully buried and now threaten to tear the crew apart.
I wanted to like this book as the outside description seemed juicy, and something different and, to a certain extent, I did like it. However this is very ‘American’ in the language, we had ‘kinda’, we had ‘like’ (a lot) and, while the chapters are told from different characters and therefore the language changed, I felt it was a bit too chatty at times.
What’ I did like is that the storyline is engaging. The characters I didn’t really relate to but I found Ruby to be the ‘main’ character and the storyline does centre mostly on hers and Murphy’s turbulent friendship from teenagers to the present. The chapters veer from ‘now’ to ‘then’ and I found the ‘then’ storyline more interesting as we see how the characters develop into adulthood. The ‘now’ storyline focuses firstly on the friends' reunion at the funeral of Danny and then a slightly more cheerful subject!
The book is short at under 300 pages which I read most of just over a weekend in the garden and is gripping enough to want to continue. It’s an easy read as each chapter is approximately ten pages long which ensures you will speed through it and it’s interesting enough to hold your attention.
There’s a bit of everything in there - first love, marriage, drug abuse, mental health issues and keeping secrets from those you love. Four stars.