'In Search of Us' was such an incredible, beautifully-written, heartfelt but also heartbreaking novel. The story of Marilyn and James interwoven with the story of their daughter, Angie was fantastically told and an absolute joy to read...even if it did make me cry!
I loved the different themes such as how the past can impact on the present, how important it is for children to know about their families and the difference it can make if they don't, how pain and loss can make people act in self-preserving ways that sometimes hurt the people they are closest to. Along with a section on police brutality in the US and how often police officers kill innocent people and yet are allowed to carry on their jobs as if they have done nothing wrong. That part of the story while devastating, also reminded me while flawed as they can be, I'm glad that our police force in the UK are not often so brutal and also don't have such easy access to guns.
The characters felt real, three-dimensional people who you could not only talk to but also relate to. Their interactions with each other and the hopes and desires of both Marilyn and Angie alongside the difficulties and anxieties that teenagers can face was brilliantly portrayed.
It was just such a shame that such tragic events could have deprived a girl of her father before she ever knew him and a young woman of her partner. Although I wished for things to be different for the characters, you could also understand how this had shaped them into the people they were and it gave the novel another great perspective on what it can be like growing up without one of your parents due to tragic events.
Again, it is probably not a story that I would have chosen to read myself so I'm very grateful to have received a free copy of it from readers first! It was ultimately fantastic and I would genuinely recommend it to anyone.
I loved the different themes such as how the past can impact on the present, how important it is for children to know about their families and the difference it can make if they don't, how pain and loss can make people act in self-preserving ways that sometimes hurt the people they are closest to. Along with a section on police brutality in the US and how often police officers kill innocent people and yet are allowed to carry on their jobs as if they have done nothing wrong. That part of the story while devastating, also reminded me while flawed as they can be, I'm glad that our police force in the UK are not often so brutal and also don't have such easy access to guns.
The characters felt real, three-dimensional people who you could not only talk to but also relate to. Their interactions with each other and the hopes and desires of both Marilyn and Angie alongside the difficulties and anxieties that teenagers can face was brilliantly portrayed.
It was just such a shame that such tragic events could have deprived a girl of her father before she ever knew him and a young woman of her partner. Although I wished for things to be different for the characters, you could also understand how this had shaped them into the people they were and it gave the novel another great perspective on what it can be like growing up without one of your parents due to tragic events.
Again, it is probably not a story that I would have chosen to read myself so I'm very grateful to have received a free copy of it from readers first! It was ultimately fantastic and I would genuinely recommend it to anyone.