Reviews tagging 'Infertility'

Homecoming by Kate Morton

11 reviews

bbrewer14's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Homecoming is an epic novel where the author takes you on a journey within a family that spans generations. With the horror of a despicable unsolved crime that occurred in the 1950s to the impact that carries on the family in 2018, the author explores the meaning of home, family, the power of secrets and the importance of the role of a mother in the life of her children. 

Nora is in Australia and needs her granddaughter Jess to come home. Jess is in London, struggling to maintain a home and a job. She returns reluctantly to Australia to be with the grandmother who raised her. Polly (Nora’s daughter and Jess’s mother) is caught in the middle of the world Nora created for her as an anxious and ambivalent parent who doesn’t know how to be a mother despite her yearnings. Surrounded by a multitude of characters from the 1950s and 2018, the author takes the reader on a journey through the loss of a mother and her 3 children, the search for a missing infant, the unsolved mystery and years of speculation and rumors to the impact it has 50 yrs later on the family. Nora leaves clues behind that intrigue her journalist granddaughter and lead to an investigation that ends with a twist you won’t expect.

A wonderful book that thrives on artistic depictions of scenery, comparisons to well known literature to help set scenes, and the base desires of humans to seek what they yearn despite the cost to others. Loved the ending and the journey getting there was long but beyond worthwhile. Highly recommend and will be reading more from this author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Grief, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Suicide, Child death, and Mental illness

Moderate: Gaslighting, Miscarriage, Murder, Death, Child death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Infertility, and Suicide

onemumreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad slow-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Colonisation, Death of parent, Death, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Murder

Minor: Grief and Infertility

graceolivia's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I begrudgingly finished it mostly to find out if my initial theory was right, one of the twists is very obvious the other seemed underdeveloped. As a whole it felt like the pacing was off, it was very slow until the last 3 or 4 chapters which attempted to answer all of the questions in quick succession. I think it would have benefited from more time spent with the characters coming to terms with the developments and less specific details and time in the first three quarters of the book.  

Spoiler

It really frustrated me that Nora was never considered to be incredibly manipulative, Jess seems to forgive her instantly for taking her away from her mother. Polly felt like she should have been the main character, I was far more interested in her thoughts and experiences. It seemed odd that her and Jess never had a proper conversation about why she actually left her with Nora. The pillow lie (x2) never gets acknowledged and apparently multiple people knew Isobel was innocent and said nothing. Marcus seemingly either forgives Meg for killing his best friend and his brothers girlfriend or doesn’t figure out it was her, either way it’s not believable. The idea that the whole thing happened as a snap decision to ‘punish’ Isobel also doesn’t make sense as it doesn’t align with Megs personality, it would be far more believable that Nora did it.

 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Grief, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Infertility, Infidelity, and Kidnapping

merrynthomas's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, and Infertility

kimveach's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I didn't connect as well with the main character as I usually do in her novels.   Otherwise, it would be five stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Classism, Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Murder, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Terminal illness, Death, Death of parent, and Grief

Minor: Alcohol, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail

jobradley's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective slow-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

4.25

Though a slog at times, this book is well worth it. Kate Morton weaves a wonderful tale as usual. Mysterious to the end. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Miscarriage, Infertility, Suicide, Murder, and Pregnancy

tamara_joy's review against another edition

mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Grief, Abandonment, Child death, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, and Suicide

Minor: Death of parent, Infidelity, Animal death, Infertility, and Miscarriage

alexdandridge's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Murder, Suicide, and Death of parent

Moderate: Infidelity, Infertility, and Miscarriage

silverhill's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, Death, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Minor: Miscarriage, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Infertility, Infidelity, and Kidnapping

bringmybooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

5.0

Thank you to Edelweiss, Mariner Books, & HarperCollins for the opportunity to read and review this book before it's publication date! This in no way affected my review, opinions are my own.

✨ 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 ✨ B̷O̷R̷R̷O̷W̷ B̷Y̷P̷A̷S̷S̷

I always have such trepidation before starting the newest Kate Morton book, because, I mean, how (?!?) could she possibly top her previous novel? HOW? But somehow she always does and Homecoming was no exception.

There is something about Kate Morton's writing that just feels like coming home - it's every perfect thing I've always loved about reading. I love so much about the way she writes but I think my favorite thing is the way she writes about places - in almost every book I've read from her the setting is almost as much of a character as the people and it creates this incredibly immersive feel about her books.

Homecoming was a haunting story about family, love, loyalty, and community. It sank into my bones and I know it's one that I'm going to think about for years to come. There's probably a lot more to say about it, as far as "reviews" go, but by now your interest is either piqued or it's not - I don't know what else I could say other than she is my absolute most favorite author of all time. That's it, folks, that's the tweet.

And now that I'm up to date with everything she's published, here's my rankings:
1. The Secret Keeper (2012)
2. The Clockmaker's Daughter (2018)
3. Homecoming (2023)
4. The Forgotten Garden (2008)
5. The Distant Hours (2010)
6. House at Riverton (2006)
7. The Lake House (2015)

All that being said, please know that coming up with that list is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do in my reading life, and also that while The Forgotten Garden is *technically* #4 on this list, it's also one of the ones I hold closest to my heart because it is the first Kate Morton I read and it was absolutely spellbinding. (Seriously, the differences between books 1-4 on that list are SO CLOSE)

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Infertility, Infidelity, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Toxic relationship, Miscarriage, Death, and Murder