I found this book very intriguing, after Jonathan Coulter’s death from MND, he left it completely up to his three children Liv, Noah and Claire to decide how to split up his estate, besides his request that his caretaker inherit a sum of money. This is not a normal happy family we are talking about. The siblings mother is Jonathan’s ex-wife, whom she’d divorced after discovering his affair with a younger woman, Megan. There is lies and betrayal, and resentment towards one another, so getting the three siblings to agree on anything is never easy, and they are torn between doing what they think is right and what the really want. The relationship dynamics kept me so entertained throughout, and I was constantly wandering whether Megan would get some of the money.
The story is intricate, with lots of baggage to unbox, but narrated in a way that was easy to understand. Essentially it deals with loss, guilt, family rivalry, and incorporates all of these aspects in an interesting plot. As I was reading it felt quite fast paced, but at the same time there was always the question of how Jonathan’s will would be handled and the reason behind it in the first place. There is also the mystery of the caretaker, I was quite suspicious of her and couldn’t understand her role and intentions straight away.
The chapters are the perfect length, and it feels like you are constantly switching view points even though it’s written in the third person - this is something I really liked about this book because I always knew how the characters were feeling regardless of how they were acting and it was easier to relate with them. It also made me realise how wrong my impressions of certain characters were: for example, Noah seemed selfish and temperamental from some other characters’ points of view, but then I got a glimpse of his own thoughts and the difficulties he was going through with his marriage on top of the loss of his father, and I was able to sympathise with him.
This book left me bitter sweetly satisfied, and reminded me of the beauty of love and family even in difficult times.
It also truly deeply and honestly explores all the ugly emotions that bubble up with the death of a loved one.
The story is intricate, with lots of baggage to unbox, but narrated in a way that was easy to understand. Essentially it deals with loss, guilt, family rivalry, and incorporates all of these aspects in an interesting plot. As I was reading it felt quite fast paced, but at the same time there was always the question of how Jonathan’s will would be handled and the reason behind it in the first place. There is also the mystery of the caretaker, I was quite suspicious of her and couldn’t understand her role and intentions straight away.
The chapters are the perfect length, and it feels like you are constantly switching view points even though it’s written in the third person - this is something I really liked about this book because I always knew how the characters were feeling regardless of how they were acting and it was easier to relate with them. It also made me realise how wrong my impressions of certain characters were: for example, Noah seemed selfish and temperamental from some other characters’ points of view, but then I got a glimpse of his own thoughts and the difficulties he was going through with his marriage on top of the loss of his father, and I was able to sympathise with him.
This book left me bitter sweetly satisfied, and reminded me of the beauty of love and family even in difficult times.
It also truly deeply and honestly explores all the ugly emotions that bubble up with the death of a loved one.