Postcards for a Songbird by Rebekah Crane

Postcards for a Songbird

by Rebekah Crane

Everyone eventually leaves Wren Plumley. First it was her mother, then her best friend, and then her sister. Now living with only her cop father and her upended dreams, Wren feels stranded, like a songbird falling in a storm.

When Wilder, a sickly housebound teen, moves in next door, Wren finally finds what she’s always wanted—a person who can’t leave. But a chance meeting with Luca, the talkative, crush-worthy boy in her driver’s ed class, has Wren wondering if maybe she’s too quick to push people away. Soon, Wren finds herself caught between the safety of a friendship and a love worth fighting for.

Wren starts to dream again. But when postcards begin arriving from her sister, Wren must ultimately confront why her mother left fourteen years before and why her sister followed in her footsteps. For her new life to take flight, Wren will have to reconcile the heartbreaking beauty of lost dreams and the beautiful heartbreak of her new reality.

Reviewed by Sam@WLABB on

4 of 5 stars

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Until a month ago, Wren lived in her own little bubble with her sister, Lizzie. But, like everyone else, Lizzie left her. Determined not to make any new attachments, Wren shut herself up in her house, watching Wheel of Fortune with her dad. She soon began to make some connections and reconnections, but would she choose the safety of her loneliness or take a chance on these new friendships?

My love affair with Crane's books continues. I was immediately swept up into Wren's world via the beautiful and lyrical prose. I found her struggle with abandonment and loneliness very relatable, and thought Crane did a wonderful job illustrating those feelings.

There was a bit of mystery in this story, which somewhat intrigued me. What happened in Idaho? Where did Lizzie go? What's Wilder's story? And, Crane addressed each and everyone of these questions for me, but what really kept me reading were the complex and well developed characters, who inhabited Wren's world.

Leia was such a force. Her rants about hormones and artificial colors amused me, and I love that she was able to light a fire under Wren and get her to spread her wings a little. Baby Girl was a link for Wren to her sister, but she ended up being a fantastic friend. My favorite, though, was Luca. If I were younger, he would be my newest book boyfriend, because his charm, wit, persistence, affection, kindness, and generosity were a thing of beauty. That kid brought a smile to my face every time he came on page, and I definitely basked in his yellow aura.

Then, there was Wren. Her pain was palpable. Her loss, so profound. She was a shell without her sister, and I really wanted her to grab onto these opportunities, to connect with other people, and open herself up to possibilities. I wanted her to discover the truth, and free herself from the blame and guilt she carried about the demise of her family. I wanted her to shake her father awake from the sleepwalking life he had been living, because she needed a parent, who was both physically and emotionally present. I wanted so many things for her, and I was elated to make this healing journey with her, because it was important for me to see all these things happen.

Overall: A gorgeously written story of healing and gaining freedom from the past, in order to make connections and move towards the future.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

BLOG | INSTAGRAM |TWITTER | BLOGLOVIN | FRIEND ME ON GOODREADS

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 21 July, 2019: Finished reading
  • 21 July, 2019: Reviewed