Sam@WLABB
Written on Mar 29, 2019
It had been almost a year since an accident claimed Mia's sister's life, and fractured her family. Her mother left physically, while her father left emotionally. Initially, Mia was resistant to spending the summer with her estranged...Read more
Rating: 4.5 Stars
It had been almost a year since an accident claimed Mia's sister's life, and fractured her family. Her mother left physically, while her father left emotionally. Initially, Mia was resistant to spending the summer with her estranged grandmother, but it turned out to be one of the best things to happen to her since the accident.
I have a penchant for grief books, and this one was dripping with it. Mia's family had been dealing with the loss of her older sister by ignoring it and disconnecting. I was happy Mia was sent to be with her grandmother, because it put her in a new environment, with new people, who pushed her to share her feelings, and whoa! Mia had a lot of feelings. The biggest one being guilt. Though it took most of the book for Mia to remember everything that happened that night, I did know that she blamed herself. Through sharing her pain, she learned to deal with her feelings and forgive herself. I was really pleased with the progress both she and her father made regarding her sister's death, and liked that Helper gave them the opportunity to heal together.
This book was filled with great characters, who brought this story to life. Among my favorites were the Brunelli family. My mother is the oldest of nine children, and when I was younger, living in Brooklyn, I was surrounded by a HUGE extended family, who share quite a few similarities with the Brunellis. That clan was loud and chaotic, but they immediately saw that Mia needed somewhere to belong, and they took her into their fold as one of their own. I loved all the familial interactions, and I also really enjoyed spending time at their diner. Aside from all the hijinks, there was a lot of quality food prepared, and I had fun being a part of it.
The Brunellis weren't the only ones to adopt Mia, she was also pulled into the tight-knit Art Attack group via Fig (of the Brunelli family). This was one interesting group of kids. They all seemed to share a love of art, but there was also a musician and a competitive eater in the mix. And, yes, I did get to attend an eating event. Each of these characters had a lot more going on behind the scenes, and helped Mia see that there were other people out there also dealing with pain, loss, and abandonment.
There are a lot of parts in this book that broke my heart, but there were way more that touched me and filled me with joy.
Overall: A beautiful and touching story of loss, healing, and forgiveness with an ending that left me smiling and shedding lots of happy tears.
*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.
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It had been almost a year since an accident claimed Mia's sister's life, and fractured her family. Her mother left physically, while her father left emotionally. Initially, Mia was resistant to spending the summer with her estranged grandmother, but it turned out to be one of the best things to happen to her since the accident.
I have a penchant for grief books, and this one was dripping with it. Mia's family had been dealing with the loss of her older sister by ignoring it and disconnecting. I was happy Mia was sent to be with her grandmother, because it put her in a new environment, with new people, who pushed her to share her feelings, and whoa! Mia had a lot of feelings. The biggest one being guilt. Though it took most of the book for Mia to remember everything that happened that night, I did know that she blamed herself. Through sharing her pain, she learned to deal with her feelings and forgive herself. I was really pleased with the progress both she and her father made regarding her sister's death, and liked that Helper gave them the opportunity to heal together.
This book was filled with great characters, who brought this story to life. Among my favorites were the Brunelli family. My mother is the oldest of nine children, and when I was younger, living in Brooklyn, I was surrounded by a HUGE extended family, who share quite a few similarities with the Brunellis. That clan was loud and chaotic, but they immediately saw that Mia needed somewhere to belong, and they took her into their fold as one of their own. I loved all the familial interactions, and I also really enjoyed spending time at their diner. Aside from all the hijinks, there was a lot of quality food prepared, and I had fun being a part of it.
The Brunellis weren't the only ones to adopt Mia, she was also pulled into the tight-knit Art Attack group via Fig (of the Brunelli family). This was one interesting group of kids. They all seemed to share a love of art, but there was also a musician and a competitive eater in the mix. And, yes, I did get to attend an eating event. Each of these characters had a lot more going on behind the scenes, and helped Mia see that there were other people out there also dealing with pain, loss, and abandonment.
There are a lot of parts in this book that broke my heart, but there were way more that touched me and filled me with joy.
Overall: A beautiful and touching story of loss, healing, and forgiveness with an ending that left me smiling and shedding lots of happy tears.
*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.
BLOG | INSTAGRAM |TWITTER | BLOGLOVIN | FRIEND ME ON GOODREADS