mrspenningalovesbooks's review against another edition
4.0
This fictional tale about love, loss, redemption, and grace was beautifully told between a husband & wife, overcoming the loss of their child. Throw in two high-maintenance brothers, tragic childhoods, and baggage the size of a boat- their brokenness is both admirable and devastating. It is a story that you can’t wait to finish- to find hope wins over fear and loss.
🌤“Could anyone have withstood this kind of wind and rain? How can you hold or be held in a storm like that? I used to think that between the two of us, we could weather it all.”
🌤”You were created to be completely loved and completely lovable, for your whole life. The less you open your heart to others, the more your heart suffers.”
🌤”And then some of us have the nerve to get down on our knees and clasp our hands. What must it be like to be so brave and bereft at once? To drop one’s defenses?”
🌤“Could anyone have withstood this kind of wind and rain? How can you hold or be held in a storm like that? I used to think that between the two of us, we could weather it all.”
🌤”You were created to be completely loved and completely lovable, for your whole life. The less you open your heart to others, the more your heart suffers.”
🌤”And then some of us have the nerve to get down on our knees and clasp our hands. What must it be like to be so brave and bereft at once? To drop one’s defenses?”
segza's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this character study of a couple who lose a child and in the process their relationship and themselves. This is by a Canadian author I hadn't read before but I'll keep an eye out for more of her work.
stepgg's review against another edition
4.0
I won this book as a giveaway. It was also on my to read list. I found the begining quite sad but I don't deal well with death and feelings about death well lately. I liked the depth Billie puts into her charactors, she made them so real you couldn't help but love them, even Francis, I just wanted to bring him home and help him. I enjoyed this book so much I am not interested in reading this authors other novels.
jannie_mtl's review against another edition
5.0
I was absolutely absorbed by this novel. No glancing at my phone, no reaching for the trashy mags at the salon. It is rich and beautiful in so many ways. Told from alternating points of view of a husband and wife, whose marriage has been broken by tragedy, it considers other sources of pain including their difficult childhoods, money issues, sibling relationships, mental illness, and religious hypocrisy.
Livingston's writing is gorgeous and at times playful. It reminds me of [a:Dorothy Ellen Palmer|5044433|Dorothy Ellen Palmer|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1442598719p2/5044433.jpg]'s voice in [b:When Fenelon Falls|9442222|When Fenelon Falls|Dorothy Ellen Palmer|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328759373s/9442222.jpg|14326851].
The opening paragraphs:
"Do you know what day it is today?"
The man just got here and he wants to know what day it is. A day late and a dollar short? A cold day in hell? It is a timeless question - it suits the room. A white, white room. White as a scream, floor to ceiling, bed to nightstand. Maybe it's supposed to feel clean. It feels more like we're locked in an instant that never ends.
Completely deserving of 5-stars.
Livingston's writing is gorgeous and at times playful. It reminds me of [a:Dorothy Ellen Palmer|5044433|Dorothy Ellen Palmer|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1442598719p2/5044433.jpg]'s voice in [b:When Fenelon Falls|9442222|When Fenelon Falls|Dorothy Ellen Palmer|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328759373s/9442222.jpg|14326851].
The opening paragraphs:
"Do you know what day it is today?"
The man just got here and he wants to know what day it is. A day late and a dollar short? A cold day in hell? It is a timeless question - it suits the room. A white, white room. White as a scream, floor to ceiling, bed to nightstand. Maybe it's supposed to feel clean. It feels more like we're locked in an instant that never ends.
Completely deserving of 5-stars.
leafyshivers's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I enjoyed this novel, a story of broken families and the various places (both desperate and wise) we find the faith we need to keep going. The characters draw sympathy while being realistically flawed. I felt that poverty was an unnamed main character throughout--the poverty of Maggie and Ben themselves, their families, and of an older lady Maggie works for, who "tips" her in pills, a small detail on which the plot turns. The generations of loss wrought by poverty and addiction unspool in Maggie's and Ben's respective narratives, and finally seem healed in the end (which was perhaps a little too easy or magical, for me anyway).
bberg2412's review against another edition
3.0
Won this book in a giveaway. The book was decent. Not the type of book I normally read. It was sometimes difficult to figure out the timeline with all of the jumping back and forth in who was each chapter and where in the story each piece fit.
idamasic's review against another edition
4.0
The Crooked Heart of Mercy is an emotional and heart-breaking novel that tells the story of Ben and Maggie, a husband and wife who have suffered a tragic loss. The novel alternates between two perspectives, those of Ben and Maggie and their individual struggles in dealing with this loss. They are living apart, with Ben reaching a breaking point that leads to a stay at a psych ward and Maggie attempting to get a job and regain some sense of normalcy, which is made all the more challenging with her brother Francis facing his own scandal.
This story is one of hope, grief, and forgiveness. It asks and seeks to answer the question, when your world falls apart, how do you put the pieces back together? The alternating points of view work very well, illustrating two people who fell apart, their intrapersonal conflicts, and their journey to heal and find each other again. What makes this novel work so well is the author’s writing style, which is outstanding in its simplicity and free-flowing nature. This is most evident in the sections with Ben’s point of view where the line between his internal dialogue and what he actually verbalizes to other characters is unclear. His state of mind, internal struggle, and sense of loss are effectively portrayed and presented.
Each characters’ story does not stick strictly to the present but also flashes back to key moments in their lives, both joyous and difficult, providing understanding of their past lives as they battle for a future. The Crooked Heart of Mercy is a beautifully written book that deals with life’s tragedies, struggles, and the strength we find in one another.
More reviews @ aboutabookreviews.com
This story is one of hope, grief, and forgiveness. It asks and seeks to answer the question, when your world falls apart, how do you put the pieces back together? The alternating points of view work very well, illustrating two people who fell apart, their intrapersonal conflicts, and their journey to heal and find each other again. What makes this novel work so well is the author’s writing style, which is outstanding in its simplicity and free-flowing nature. This is most evident in the sections with Ben’s point of view where the line between his internal dialogue and what he actually verbalizes to other characters is unclear. His state of mind, internal struggle, and sense of loss are effectively portrayed and presented.
Each characters’ story does not stick strictly to the present but also flashes back to key moments in their lives, both joyous and difficult, providing understanding of their past lives as they battle for a future. The Crooked Heart of Mercy is a beautifully written book that deals with life’s tragedies, struggles, and the strength we find in one another.
More reviews @ aboutabookreviews.com
sirin_tugbay's review against another edition
2.0
My review for American Book Center's YouReview round is up on the web as well as below:
I picked Billie Livingston’s book out of the You Review list with a quick scan of the other books and reading bits of blurbs about this book. “Acclaimed Canadian author” and comparison to Jennifer Egan got my attention, and I picked The Crooked Heart of Mercy. I think somewhere in a corner of my brain, I was secretly hoping for a book version of the Belgian movie The Broken Circle Breakdown – a tragic love story with interesting characters, enough tragedy to make you cry your heart out and still want to watch it again later. What I got, however, was an attempt at a tragic love story with mediocre characters and a book that I would not really want to reread at any point.
The Crooked Heart of Mercy is at its core a love story between Ben and Maggie, their strong love for each other before and after the tragic loss they experience. Neither of them had it easy through childhood – Ben with a drunken father and a well-meaning but unreliable brother, and Maggie who lost her parents early on and has a scandal-prone priest brother, have found each other and seem to have found stability and love. Until their mutual loss which unravels both of them.
The premise and the characters lay the ground for a potentially good book, but I did not feel invested in neither Maggie nor Ben, neither did I feel I understood what was going on with Maggie’s brother. If he is meant to bring Religion into the picture as a balancing side to the spirituality undertones, it doesn’t delve deep enough to do a good job, which can be said for the whole book: I was left craving for something more. Overall, I found The Crooked Heart of Mercy a quick read, but not the “powerful debut” that it is advertised to be.
I picked Billie Livingston’s book out of the You Review list with a quick scan of the other books and reading bits of blurbs about this book. “Acclaimed Canadian author” and comparison to Jennifer Egan got my attention, and I picked The Crooked Heart of Mercy. I think somewhere in a corner of my brain, I was secretly hoping for a book version of the Belgian movie The Broken Circle Breakdown – a tragic love story with interesting characters, enough tragedy to make you cry your heart out and still want to watch it again later. What I got, however, was an attempt at a tragic love story with mediocre characters and a book that I would not really want to reread at any point.
The Crooked Heart of Mercy is at its core a love story between Ben and Maggie, their strong love for each other before and after the tragic loss they experience. Neither of them had it easy through childhood – Ben with a drunken father and a well-meaning but unreliable brother, and Maggie who lost her parents early on and has a scandal-prone priest brother, have found each other and seem to have found stability and love. Until their mutual loss which unravels both of them.
The premise and the characters lay the ground for a potentially good book, but I did not feel invested in neither Maggie nor Ben, neither did I feel I understood what was going on with Maggie’s brother. If he is meant to bring Religion into the picture as a balancing side to the spirituality undertones, it doesn’t delve deep enough to do a good job, which can be said for the whole book: I was left craving for something more. Overall, I found The Crooked Heart of Mercy a quick read, but not the “powerful debut” that it is advertised to be.
megwheeler's review
5.0
I know it's a cliche, but Billie Livingston has such a way with words. Her poetry background shines through. A vivid portrayal of life gone way, way off the rails. I had an inescapable, sad pressure in my chest as Billie brought to hauntingly clear light the sadness in Maggie and Ben's hearts. I felt like a ghost in the room in every scene. I was truly lost in the times and places Ben and Maggie were inhabiting - they felt so real I could touch them. Remarkable.
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