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kmdowling90's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer and Dementia
rachelfsreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Child death, and Death of parent
cschaepe84's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Two families, one curse, thousands of moments that play out through generations.
Junior O'Donnell and Saul Angert are two people from two different families in a small town of Five Fingers who have a feud. The exact feud isn't quite known, but all that they know of it is to stay away from each other or very bad things happens. People die, people get very sick, tragedy strikes. So, when Saul and Junior literally run into each other one fateful night when Saul returns to Five Fingers, they feel a connection despite the curse. They were taught to hate each other, but couldn't bring themselves to. In addition, on the night June meets Saul, she begins to experience a distant memory in her room, one that played out when she was eight years old and her father was alive. You see, June lives in a haunted house, or at least in a special place where the veil between this world and the one beyond. These episodes of experiencing memories happen in escalating frequency ever since she and Saul reconnect and began falling in love. Ah, but the curse! Saul and June use their heads together to figure out the mysteries of this curse and unravel a tragic tale of loss, vengeance, and generational trauma.
This was such a unique, heart-felt story that left me in tears. The writing was so beautiful. Henry did such an outstanding job creating this atmospheric world that I could see and taste, balancing this with the intense emotions of the grief from losing someone you loved. I myself having lost my father can very easily relate and I found myself feeling so hard for Junior, who idealized and idolized her father, never questioning the way he told his story: perfect, rosy, and heroic. But when the memories continued to unravel, she is confronted with certain truths about her father, and then confronted with the truth about a wrong committed long, long ago, that haunted both families. Through June and Saul we learn about how love and forgiveness can heal all wounds, as well as accepting the past as it is, both the good and the ugly, as well as being grateful for what you have in the present. This book had me pondering all these things in my own life, as there are some things that are painful in my past, but there's also a lot that I miss that I wish I could revisit and see again. However, there is so much to love and be grateful for in the present, but if you do not let go of the past, you will never see that, and you could miss out on a brighter, more fulfilling future.
Man, this is my first book that I've read of Emily Henry's, and I understand this is some of her earlier writing. I know she writes mainly rom-coms now, but it's such a shame she doesn't write stories similar to this. So incredibly beautiful, so haunting, and yet, such a triumph all rolled into one. For anyone who has ever grieved, this book could bring some comfort and hope.
Junior O'Donnell and Saul Angert are two people from two different families in a small town of Five Fingers who have a feud. The exact feud isn't quite known, but all that they know of it is to stay away from each other or very bad things happens. People die, people get very sick, tragedy strikes. So, when Saul and Junior literally run into each other one fateful night when Saul returns to Five Fingers, they feel a connection despite the curse. They were taught to hate each other, but couldn't bring themselves to. In addition, on the night June meets Saul, she begins to experience a distant memory in her room, one that played out when she was eight years old and her father was alive. You see, June lives in a haunted house, or at least in a special place where the veil between this world and the one beyond. These episodes of experiencing memories happen in escalating frequency ever since she and Saul reconnect and began falling in love. Ah, but the curse! Saul and June use their heads together to figure out the mysteries of this curse and unravel a tragic tale of loss, vengeance, and generational trauma.
This was such a unique, heart-felt story that left me in tears. The writing was so beautiful. Henry did such an outstanding job creating this atmospheric world that I could see and taste, balancing this with the intense emotions of the grief from losing someone you loved. I myself having lost my father can very easily relate and I found myself feeling so hard for Junior, who idealized and idolized her father, never questioning the way he told his story: perfect, rosy, and heroic. But when the memories continued to unravel, she is confronted with certain truths about her father, and then confronted with the truth about a wrong committed long, long ago, that haunted both families. Through June and Saul we learn about how love and forgiveness can heal all wounds, as well as accepting the past as it is, both the good and the ugly, as well as being grateful for what you have in the present. This book had me pondering all these things in my own life, as there are some things that are painful in my past, but there's also a lot that I miss that I wish I could revisit and see again. However, there is so much to love and be grateful for in the present, but if you do not let go of the past, you will never see that, and you could miss out on a brighter, more fulfilling future.
Man, this is my first book that I've read of Emily Henry's, and I understand this is some of her earlier writing. I know she writes mainly rom-coms now, but it's such a shame she doesn't write stories similar to this. So incredibly beautiful, so haunting, and yet, such a triumph all rolled into one. For anyone who has ever grieved, this book could bring some comfort and hope.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dementia, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer, Child death, and Violence
sjmomaney's review against another edition
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Death and Dementia
mareliweb1's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Very good book! There was a lot of metaphors (not really the right word but close enough) that made the book a little confusing. Almost like it was trying too hard to be very deep. The magical part was also a bit confusing. Still I thought the story was very good and I loved the characters.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
madflatt's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
siriface's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Death of parent
tmvetter's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Dementia, and Death of parent
Minor: Blood
greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol
megmccreery's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
Made me cry but ultimately could have been 100 pages shorter. It just took a little too long to get to the point throughout the whole book, and the excessive details lessened the impact of the plot. This definitely was the start of the Emily Henry we know today. The writing style was very much her's, and Saul and June were very much giving Gus and January.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Death of parent