My book club chose this book to read, so of course I read it. I always go into overly hyped books with trepidation because I’ve been let down before. Sadly, this book is another popular book that I didn’t love as much as everyone else. It did provide for lively discussions at our meeting, however, especially since there are several lawyers in our group that all had different opinions about the legal side of the story.
Mother Olivia leaves her abusive husband, taking her son Asher with her. They return to her childhood home town and Olivia takes over her father’s beekeeping business. The business starts doing well and Asher is flourishing in school, until he’s arrested and accused of killing his girlfriend Lily. While Olivia doesn’t believe Asher is guilty, deep down she worries that he’s just like his father.
There are a lot of moving parts in this book. The chapters alternate between several characters, often depicting the same scenario but from different viewpoints. Initially this was helpful to build out the characters and storyline, but after awhile became repetitious and annoying. Things look bad for Asher when he’s first arrested, but as we learn more about the months leading up to the murder, we realize several people had motives for killing Lily.
This book was way too long and really dragged in the middle. A lot of fluff could have been eliminated without destroying the story. The pacing was a bit off, with the story focusing way too much on some things, and way too little on others. The ending, for example, was pretty abrupt.
All in all, this book was just ok for me. I’m not mad at my book club for choosing this book. It wouldn’t have been my choice, but several members liked it so that’s good. If you are a Picoult or Boylan fan, you will probably like this one, so definitely check it out for yourself.
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