A review by starryeved
The Book of Wonders by Julien Sandrel
3.0
An optimistic story about compassion and living your life to the fullest.
Thelma's—career-oriented single mother—world is upended when her beloved twelve year-old son Louis gets into an accident and is hospitalized, with a month-long waiting period before the doctors pull his plug. When she finds Louis' Book of Wonders—a bucket list, of sorts—she sets out on a journey to finish his wishes in hopes he'll wake up.
A mashup of every fluffy feel-good I've read and the quintessential "dysfunctional family bonds over road trip" and "working woman reinvents herself and rediscovers passion in life" movies. The up side of that is that yay! happy times to be had!. The down side is that this plot was so contained and tidy that there were no surprises, that everything was too fast for me to enjoy.
Sandrel's writing is easily navigable and fast to read, engaging as rom-coms and feel-goods tend to be. However, she brought up so many good themes—family bonding, misogyny in the workplace, consent—that lapped up like waves and then disappeared. I wanted to see and feel more of Thelma's travels in Japan and Hungary, and I wanted to see more development in Thelma's past and present relationships. I even wanted to see some differentiation between Thelma and Louis' POVs, but their voices sounded the same. I wanted some conflict. Alas, I was disappointed.
This had great potential, so I'm giving it an extra star because the message was very sweet and it was a very well-meaning book, and I'm feeling lenient. In reality, it was alright.
Ultimately, The Book of Wonders promises more than it actually delivers, but it's quite a kind, positive story about motherhood and fulfilling your potential in life.
Thelma's—career-oriented single mother—world is upended when her beloved twelve year-old son Louis gets into an accident and is hospitalized, with a month-long waiting period before the doctors pull his plug. When she finds Louis' Book of Wonders—a bucket list, of sorts—she sets out on a journey to finish his wishes in hopes he'll wake up.
A mashup of every fluffy feel-good I've read and the quintessential "dysfunctional family bonds over road trip" and "working woman reinvents herself and rediscovers passion in life" movies. The up side of that is that yay! happy times to be had!. The down side is that this plot was so contained and tidy that there were no surprises, that everything was too fast for me to enjoy.
Sandrel's writing is easily navigable and fast to read, engaging as rom-coms and feel-goods tend to be. However, she brought up so many good themes—family bonding, misogyny in the workplace, consent—that lapped up like waves and then disappeared. I wanted to see and feel more of Thelma's travels in Japan and Hungary, and I wanted to see more development in Thelma's past and present relationships. I even wanted to see some differentiation between Thelma and Louis' POVs, but their voices sounded the same. I wanted some conflict. Alas, I was disappointed.
This had great potential, so I'm giving it an extra star because the message was very sweet and it was a very well-meaning book, and I'm feeling lenient. In reality, it was alright.
Ultimately, The Book of Wonders promises more than it actually delivers, but it's quite a kind, positive story about motherhood and fulfilling your potential in life.