I enjoyed this book for the most part. I thought the parts set in the past were the strongest. Magda, Gene and Tom all had complex stories that were layered and they attempted to tackle some big topics — classism, sexism and homophobia. The present timeline, along with the end of overall book, was not as strong. Robert clung a bit to tightly to his secret shame and when it was finally reveal it felt rushed and did not pull at the emotional heartstrings as I thought it might.
This book made think fondly of my own quest to collect all 39 books in the Trixie Belden mystery series. Those books, while I did not read them all, remind me of Christmas and my grandmother and mother. So while not all part of the plot struck me the same, in the end, I did feel a bit nostalgic for my own personal childhood book collection.
I receive a copy of this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.