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okiecozyreader's reviews
1167 reviews
The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
Ok, well this made me teary at the end. I love that this girl was such a good person and made Liam want to be a better/happier person, too - how for her - money wasn’t worth sacrificing who he wanted to be. It makes me wonder how many people would rather have the money, but I loved she would rather live a happy and free life.
Anna changed majors from pre-med to art and is basically a starving artist, trying to help her father, who has cancer. She married Liam (aka West) years ago, when they both needed to be married to live in co-ed housing. She thought they were divorced until he shows up needing her to go with him to his sister’s wedding on an exclusive island because they are actually still married (Didn’t she read the divorce papers with her lawyer?)… um, no. His family has caved to the lures of obsessive amounts of wealth and it is shocking to Anna, but she realizes Liam is actually a good guy. She wants to support him through the festivities, plus she can help her dad, but can she survive Liam’s family.
“Four siblings and we’ve all handled the fallout in our own ways. Alex turned into a desperate yes-man. Jake is the sunshine clown who looks for a joke to get out of every tense moment. And I’m the chronic overthinker who internalizes everything.” Ch 22
“I wish I could still believe somewhere inside me that terrible rich people like this didn’t actually exist.” Ch 29
“I turn off the light and do everything I can to not worry about Liam going home to an empty house, Liam not having a David Green, Liam facing all of this alone.” Ch 33
“Even if it’s awful, it’s going to be okay,” …
…
“Because even if it goes off the rails, even if everyone ends up shouting and crying and accusing, they’ll still leave at the end of the night, and we’ll still have our house and our life and this love that nobody can touch.” Epilogue
Anna changed majors from pre-med to art and is basically a starving artist, trying to help her father, who has cancer. She married Liam (aka West) years ago, when they both needed to be married to live in co-ed housing. She thought they were divorced until he shows up needing her to go with him to his sister’s wedding on an exclusive island because they are actually still married (Didn’t she read the divorce papers with her lawyer?)… um, no. His family has caved to the lures of obsessive amounts of wealth and it is shocking to Anna, but she realizes Liam is actually a good guy. She wants to support him through the festivities, plus she can help her dad, but can she survive Liam’s family.
“Four siblings and we’ve all handled the fallout in our own ways. Alex turned into a desperate yes-man. Jake is the sunshine clown who looks for a joke to get out of every tense moment. And I’m the chronic overthinker who internalizes everything.” Ch 22
“I wish I could still believe somewhere inside me that terrible rich people like this didn’t actually exist.” Ch 29
“I turn off the light and do everything I can to not worry about Liam going home to an empty house, Liam not having a David Green, Liam facing all of this alone.” Ch 33
“Even if it’s awful, it’s going to be okay,” …
…
“Because even if it goes off the rails, even if everyone ends up shouting and crying and accusing, they’ll still leave at the end of the night, and we’ll still have our house and our life and this love that nobody can touch.” Epilogue
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer
These Is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901: Arizona Territories by Nancy E. Turner
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
This book was published about 25 years ago. I saw a review that inspired me to mark it as something I wanted to read and when my local book club selected it, I added it to my list.
It’s the story of Sarah Agnes Prime, who was the great-grandmother of the author told as journal entries. This is a fictional story of her life. The great love of her life in the book is fictional, because the author and her family didn’t know much about him. The book begins in July of 1881 as the family is in a wagon, often running from Indians and trying to survive. It is not low on difficult moments, as there must have been many for a family in such a time and area. I live in oklahoma and know how hot a summer is, and can’t imagine being in a wagon traveling in an unpopulated area. The book continues as the family creates permanent homes after homesteading for several years. Much of the book deals with the difficulties of bearing and raising children at the time (without birth control) and limited medical help.
I can see why so many people have loved this book, especially the main love interest with Sarah.
“She was accustomed to her sorrows it said, as she had been accustomed to great riches and fine foods. We are accustomed to Indian wars and sorrows and traveling fast and folks dying.” P35
“I only thought I wanted to be a wife. I just wanted to be happy. There's nothing happy in this.” P130
“There are so many hard things to live through, and latching on to the good things will give you strength to endure, she says. So I must remember this day. It is beautiful and this seems like the best time to live and the best place.” P327
It’s the story of Sarah Agnes Prime, who was the great-grandmother of the author told as journal entries. This is a fictional story of her life. The great love of her life in the book is fictional, because the author and her family didn’t know much about him. The book begins in July of 1881 as the family is in a wagon, often running from Indians and trying to survive. It is not low on difficult moments, as there must have been many for a family in such a time and area. I live in oklahoma and know how hot a summer is, and can’t imagine being in a wagon traveling in an unpopulated area. The book continues as the family creates permanent homes after homesteading for several years. Much of the book deals with the difficulties of bearing and raising children at the time (without birth control) and limited medical help.
I can see why so many people have loved this book, especially the main love interest with Sarah.
“She was accustomed to her sorrows it said, as she had been accustomed to great riches and fine foods. We are accustomed to Indian wars and sorrows and traveling fast and folks dying.” P35
“I only thought I wanted to be a wife. I just wanted to be happy. There's nothing happy in this.” P130
“There are so many hard things to live through, and latching on to the good things will give you strength to endure, she says. So I must remember this day. It is beautiful and this seems like the best time to live and the best place.” P327
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Cancer and Infidelity
Finding Margaret Fuller by Allison Pataki
adventurous
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
4.5
I honeymooned in the Boston area and went to Walden pond and saw the Orchard house, but I never heard of Margaret Fuller. I truly love how Allison Pataki finds these important women and tells their stories.
“Humanity is divided into men, women, and Margaret Fuller.” —Edgar Allan Poe (epigraph & p239)
The first part of this book, that largely encompasses Fuller’s life with that of Emerson, Thoreau and the Alcott families is interesting, but when she goes to Europe to report back for the New York Post, the story really blooms. Her time in Italy is so fascinating and it truly is too bad we will never know all that she wanted to say.
She did not marry until she was 37, so much is told in the book of the time she was a single woman, in a world where marriage and having a man was supremely important for a woman. She is fascinating for so many reasons, and Emerson’s support of her and belief in her as a contemporary also surprised me in the best way.
“I did not embellish any of the details of this time or these experiences; the raw material of the history was beyond anything I could have conjured.” Author’s note
“They can conquer who believe they can.” "Virgil's Aeneid. And my life's credo. P 17
“You ask why I have never married? My reason is that I have no interest in captivity." P20
“You may remain here discussing how your souls can aspire for great heights. I'll step out into the world to witness something that already knows how to reach great heights." P122
“The Much that always wants More. I am a woman who is too unapologetic in my desire to write, to think, to work.” P147
“If a thinking woman is offensive, then yes, I might offend a number of people. And I'll be happy to do SO." P152
“Let my life be a beautiful, powerful, in a word, a complete life in its kind. Had I but one more moment to live, I must wish the same.'" P 220
“It's not that I wish to marry simply to be married; it's that I wish to find a love so overpowering that there's no choice but to join myself with this other person.” P 235
“Humanity is divided into men, women, and Margaret Fuller.” —Edgar Allan Poe (epigraph & p239)
The first part of this book, that largely encompasses Fuller’s life with that of Emerson, Thoreau and the Alcott families is interesting, but when she goes to Europe to report back for the New York Post, the story really blooms. Her time in Italy is so fascinating and it truly is too bad we will never know all that she wanted to say.
She did not marry until she was 37, so much is told in the book of the time she was a single woman, in a world where marriage and having a man was supremely important for a woman. She is fascinating for so many reasons, and Emerson’s support of her and belief in her as a contemporary also surprised me in the best way.
“I did not embellish any of the details of this time or these experiences; the raw material of the history was beyond anything I could have conjured.” Author’s note
“They can conquer who believe they can.” "Virgil's Aeneid. And my life's credo. P 17
“You ask why I have never married? My reason is that I have no interest in captivity." P20
“You may remain here discussing how your souls can aspire for great heights. I'll step out into the world to witness something that already knows how to reach great heights." P122
“The Much that always wants More. I am a woman who is too unapologetic in my desire to write, to think, to work.” P147
“If a thinking woman is offensive, then yes, I might offend a number of people. And I'll be happy to do SO." P152
“Let my life be a beautiful, powerful, in a word, a complete life in its kind. Had I but one more moment to live, I must wish the same.'" P 220
“It's not that I wish to marry simply to be married; it's that I wish to find a love so overpowering that there's no choice but to join myself with this other person.” P 235
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pregnancy and War
How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Written by an award winning poet from Jamaica, this is a beautifully told lyrical memoir. Safiya Sinclair describes what it was like for her to grow up in a Rastafarian household, how Rasta women were expected to behave and how they were ostracized from their community. She describes the love of her mother for her, in the midst of her father’s growing anger. I really love how she narrated the audiobook - her lyrical reading of it is just beautiful to listen to, even though the topic is hard.
“To live in paradise is to be reminded how little you can afford it.” Ch 2
“There was more than one way to be lost, more than one way to be saved. While my mother had saved me from the waves and gave me breath, my father tried to save me only by suffocation…” ch 4
“There is an unspoken understanding of loss here in Jamaica, where everything comes with a rude bargain—that being citizens of a “developing nation,” we are born already expecting to live a secondhand life, and to enjoy it. But there is hope, too, in our scarcity, tolerable because it keeps us constantly reaching for something better.” Ch 5
“We pushed our heavy boulders up the same punishing hill, passing each other and pretending we were alone in our misery. We each carried our weight in silence until it consumed us, collapsing, as all things must, into a black hole. One Saturday afternoon I decided to let that boulder go. Let it crush me if it must.” Ch 16
“To live in paradise is to be reminded how little you can afford it.” Ch 2
“There was more than one way to be lost, more than one way to be saved. While my mother had saved me from the waves and gave me breath, my father tried to save me only by suffocation…” ch 4
“There is an unspoken understanding of loss here in Jamaica, where everything comes with a rude bargain—that being citizens of a “developing nation,” we are born already expecting to live a secondhand life, and to enjoy it. But there is hope, too, in our scarcity, tolerable because it keeps us constantly reaching for something better.” Ch 5
“We pushed our heavy boulders up the same punishing hill, passing each other and pretending we were alone in our misery. We each carried our weight in silence until it consumed us, collapsing, as all things must, into a black hole. One Saturday afternoon I decided to let that boulder go. Let it crush me if it must.” Ch 16
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Drug use, and Infidelity
Nightwatching by Tracy Sierra
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
4.25
Don’t read this one at night alone! From the first line -
“There was someone in the house.”
You know you are in for a long trip with this intruder.
Like a story, the family in this story is not named - the cast includes a mother and her two children who are alone at home when the mother hears someone’s footsteps. She gathers her children and hides in a secret panel of a house (the house is based on the author’s own home), and reflects upon past family events as she tries to protect her family.
“Easier to believe a woman's lying than that bad things happened on your watch. Easier to believe the simplest thing is always correct. And it's simple to say a woman is crazy.” P341
This is such an unusual thriller and a great debut!
“There was someone in the house.”
You know you are in for a long trip with this intruder.
Like a story, the family in this story is not named - the cast includes a mother and her two children who are alone at home when the mother hears someone’s footsteps. She gathers her children and hides in a secret panel of a house (the house is based on the author’s own home), and reflects upon past family events as she tries to protect her family.
“Easier to believe a woman's lying than that bad things happened on your watch. Easier to believe the simplest thing is always correct. And it's simple to say a woman is crazy.” P341
This is such an unusual thriller and a great debut!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting
Moderate: Violence
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Finally read THE KITE RUNNER for a chat with my hometown bookstore tonight @anovelideabookshop.
I can see why it’s on so many lists- both of books you should read and books that people are banning. Khalid Hosseini writes in the introduction of my copy how he writes to tell himself a story. But after September 11th, his wife demanded he send his work to a publisher to show them a different side of Afghanistan. I thought it was interesting he also has a MD in internal medicine.
KITE RUNNER is the story of Amir, the son of a wealthy, hardworking businessman. His father has a servant whose family has worked for them for 40 years, who has a son of similar age Hassan, who is a Hazara - a shunned ethnic group. Hassan is very loyal to Amir and Amir is not as good of a friend to Hassan. When a tragic event occurs, Amir’s guilt makes him miserable, and he can no longer face Hassan. About the same time, the Afghanistan country is invaded by Russia and he and his father escape to the United States. In THE KITE RUNNER, we see how the Afghanistan culture changes with all of the power struggles and how Amir’s loving family and friends change him for the better.
“For kite runners, the most coveted prize was the last fallen kite of a winter tournament. It was a trophy of honor, something to be displayed on a mantel for guests to admire.” P47
“Now, no matter what the mullah teaches, there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft. Do you understand that?”
…
"When you kill a man, you steal a life," Baba said. "You steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness. Do you see?" P16
“It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime, Amir, he said.” p125-126
“Returning to Kabul was like running into an old, forgotten friend and seeing that life hadn't been good to him, that he'd become homeless and destitute.” P218
I can see why it’s on so many lists- both of books you should read and books that people are banning. Khalid Hosseini writes in the introduction of my copy how he writes to tell himself a story. But after September 11th, his wife demanded he send his work to a publisher to show them a different side of Afghanistan. I thought it was interesting he also has a MD in internal medicine.
KITE RUNNER is the story of Amir, the son of a wealthy, hardworking businessman. His father has a servant whose family has worked for them for 40 years, who has a son of similar age Hassan, who is a Hazara - a shunned ethnic group. Hassan is very loyal to Amir and Amir is not as good of a friend to Hassan. When a tragic event occurs, Amir’s guilt makes him miserable, and he can no longer face Hassan. About the same time, the Afghanistan country is invaded by Russia and he and his father escape to the United States. In THE KITE RUNNER, we see how the Afghanistan culture changes with all of the power struggles and how Amir’s loving family and friends change him for the better.
“For kite runners, the most coveted prize was the last fallen kite of a winter tournament. It was a trophy of honor, something to be displayed on a mantel for guests to admire.” P47
“Now, no matter what the mullah teaches, there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft. Do you understand that?”
…
"When you kill a man, you steal a life," Baba said. "You steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness. Do you see?" P16
“It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime, Amir, he said.” p125-126
“Returning to Kabul was like running into an old, forgotten friend and seeing that life hadn't been good to him, that he'd become homeless and destitute.” P218
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Rape, Self harm, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Violence, and Death of parent
Let's Pretend This Will Work by Maddie Dawson
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
4.25
I’ve wanted to read Matchmaking for Beginners for so long and I was excited when this was an Amazon First Reads by the same author.
This is a coming of age story, a little later in life (in her 20s opposed to her teens) for Mimi. She fell head over heels for a theater professor at her school, Ren. When his ex-wife is in a tragic accident, he rushes home to help her and she follows, but finds there isn’t much space for her. Fortunately, the building she is in has a coop daycare that she finds charming.
“The spirit guides say you’re on the personal quest of your life, and you’ve got some twists and turns ahead of you, a bit of a detour.”
…
“But it ultimately all works out, like life has a way of doing.”
…
The important thing is that either way, you’re going to have a big, wonderful life.” Ch 4
In the Acknowledgments, Dawson writes about her own time in New Haven in a coop daycare and all that it taught her. You can see that love in this book. It’s a story about finding your own way, dealing with family and creating a new family from mix-matched parts.
—-
“I am a woman on fire, operating quite outside of anything that might be called a comfort zone. I can’t even see my comfort zone in the rearview mirror.” Ch 5
“You poor man. It’s like you’ve never seen even one romantic movie about love. You don’t have any idea how regular people become each other’s families.” Ch 16
“Are we always doomed to be bumped around by people who claim they know what’s right for us?” Ch 19
This is a coming of age story, a little later in life (in her 20s opposed to her teens) for Mimi. She fell head over heels for a theater professor at her school, Ren. When his ex-wife is in a tragic accident, he rushes home to help her and she follows, but finds there isn’t much space for her. Fortunately, the building she is in has a coop daycare that she finds charming.
“The spirit guides say you’re on the personal quest of your life, and you’ve got some twists and turns ahead of you, a bit of a detour.”
…
“But it ultimately all works out, like life has a way of doing.”
…
The important thing is that either way, you’re going to have a big, wonderful life.” Ch 4
In the Acknowledgments, Dawson writes about her own time in New Haven in a coop daycare and all that it taught her. You can see that love in this book. It’s a story about finding your own way, dealing with family and creating a new family from mix-matched parts.
—-
“I am a woman on fire, operating quite outside of anything that might be called a comfort zone. I can’t even see my comfort zone in the rearview mirror.” Ch 5
“You poor man. It’s like you’ve never seen even one romantic movie about love. You don’t have any idea how regular people become each other’s families.” Ch 16
“Are we always doomed to be bumped around by people who claim they know what’s right for us?” Ch 19
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness and Gaslighting
The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
THE LOST BOOKSHOP started off very much like I expected. There is a vanishing bookshop that only a few have seen, and the back story of how the bookshop existed. In the current day, Martha works at Shakespeare and Company and retreats to Dublin after her husband is abusive. There she meets Madame Bowden, who is looking for a housekeeper. Henry is looking to solve the mystery of Emily Brontë’s missing manuscript, and Opaline tells us her story of her bookshop, the men who swindled her and how she persevered.
I loved all the bookish references - the magical bookshop, the Mont Blanc Le Petit Prince pen (which I didn’t know existed, but what a fun surprise p76-77), and all of the books (Normal People by Sally Rooney) and quotes. This book does go to some dark places in the ways that women are treated by men. It took me a while to keep track of who everyone was and how they were related but I was glad I stuck with it.
“In the story, there was a young woman who came to the library, miles away from her true home. She read a story about a girl who had come to a fork in the road and was so afraid of making the wrong decision that she stayed where she was, huddled in the hollow of a tree. After several days, an old woman came along and told her a riddle. She asked, 'What is something you create, even if you do nothing?' The answer was a choice.
Choosing not to do something was still a choice.” P143
“It is strange how seemingly inconsequential conversations suddenly take on the mantle of fate and destiny when cast in a new light.” P253
I loved all the bookish references - the magical bookshop, the Mont Blanc Le Petit Prince pen (which I didn’t know existed, but what a fun surprise p76-77), and all of the books (Normal People by Sally Rooney) and quotes. This book does go to some dark places in the ways that women are treated by men. It took me a while to keep track of who everyone was and how they were related but I was glad I stuck with it.
“In the story, there was a young woman who came to the library, miles away from her true home. She read a story about a girl who had come to a fork in the road and was so afraid of making the wrong decision that she stayed where she was, huddled in the hollow of a tree. After several days, an old woman came along and told her a riddle. She asked, 'What is something you create, even if you do nothing?' The answer was a choice.
Choosing not to do something was still a choice.” P143
“It is strange how seemingly inconsequential conversations suddenly take on the mantle of fate and destiny when cast in a new light.” P253
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting
Moderate: Domestic abuse
Minor: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, and Violence
The Best Life Book Club by Sheila Roberts
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Karissa and her daughter are moving from Seattle to Puget Sound after her husband left her for their neighbor and her best friend. Feeling alone, she starts a bookclub to make friends. Her neighbors Alice, Alice’s grumpy sister Josie and also newly single Margot spend time moving on together, led by discussion of great books.
“There was a perfect book match for everyone, and a book club was the perfect place to find that match.” P71
It took me a while to get into this one, but I ended up enjoying it. I loved the novel within the novel and all of the conversation about books.
I have only read one other of Sheila’s books and this seemed very different to me. But I loved the focus on female friendship!
“We all need stories, we all love stories, but we also need to live our own stories. Books should encourage your u to do that. They shouldn’t be a substitute.” P166
I loved all the name dropping of friends:
“At the bookstore she stocked up on novels by some of her favorite writers—-the two Susans (Susan Wiggs and Susan Mallery), Marie Bostwick, and Rachel Linden. One of the Friends & Fiction ladies had a book on the shelves. She loved their podcasts!
Oooh, and here was a new one by Brenda Novak. And...” p197
"All those hard things you've gone through, they've been the fertilizer that's made you blossom,…" p280
“There was a perfect book match for everyone, and a book club was the perfect place to find that match.” P71
It took me a while to get into this one, but I ended up enjoying it. I loved the novel within the novel and all of the conversation about books.
I have only read one other of Sheila’s books and this seemed very different to me. But I loved the focus on female friendship!
“We all need stories, we all love stories, but we also need to live our own stories. Books should encourage your u to do that. They shouldn’t be a substitute.” P166
I loved all the name dropping of friends:
“At the bookstore she stocked up on novels by some of her favorite writers—-the two Susans (Susan Wiggs and Susan Mallery), Marie Bostwick, and Rachel Linden. One of the Friends & Fiction ladies had a book on the shelves. She loved their podcasts!
Oooh, and here was a new one by Brenda Novak. And...” p197
"All those hard things you've gone through, they've been the fertilizer that's made you blossom,…" p280
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment
A Branch in Spring by Lara Meredith
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
I enjoyed reading this book with the author larameredith_writes. It was fun to hear about Raspberry Cottage.
Rayna Wescott returns home to her wealthy family’s estate after she decides being a journalist isn’t for her. She decides to take residence at her family’s Raspberry Cottage, which happens to be adjacent to the home of her former boyfriend Trent and his wife Charlotte. Along with her close return, it brings back feelings between her, Trent, Charlotte and her family.
“By the time she reached the front porch, there was an unmistakable lightness in her step, yet also the added burden of figuring out just where those next steps were meant to take her.” Ch 12
“Rayna was a prisoner within her own life as her world became smaller and smaller.” Ch 19
“I love the way people always say how much character your house has when it’s obvious it has zero else going for it.” Ch 21
“Yet, somehow, that little lantern had managed to spark a flicker of interest and illuminated more than just Raspberry Cottage.” Ch 27
“It was easy for them, their lives had all moved forward. Her future waited, a mystery, while she remained stuck in the past.” Ch 35
“..you don’t want him. It’s just easier to look back than it is to look forward. It’s completely normal to long for the familiar life you knew.” Ch 37
“She was determined to live her life minimizing unnecessary pain. But in the process, her strategy left her with an entirely different kind of ache.” Ch 39
Rayna Wescott returns home to her wealthy family’s estate after she decides being a journalist isn’t for her. She decides to take residence at her family’s Raspberry Cottage, which happens to be adjacent to the home of her former boyfriend Trent and his wife Charlotte. Along with her close return, it brings back feelings between her, Trent, Charlotte and her family.
“By the time she reached the front porch, there was an unmistakable lightness in her step, yet also the added burden of figuring out just where those next steps were meant to take her.” Ch 12
“Rayna was a prisoner within her own life as her world became smaller and smaller.” Ch 19
“I love the way people always say how much character your house has when it’s obvious it has zero else going for it.” Ch 21
“Yet, somehow, that little lantern had managed to spark a flicker of interest and illuminated more than just Raspberry Cottage.” Ch 27
“It was easy for them, their lives had all moved forward. Her future waited, a mystery, while she remained stuck in the past.” Ch 35
“..you don’t want him. It’s just easier to look back than it is to look forward. It’s completely normal to long for the familiar life you knew.” Ch 37
“She was determined to live her life minimizing unnecessary pain. But in the process, her strategy left her with an entirely different kind of ache.” Ch 39
Content Warnings
Moderate: Terminal illness