For those of you that are subscribed to my blog, hello again!
I'm finally diving back into the blog scene after 2 years of being absent. I've been fairly busy (but also not very busy in some ways), and as it stands, the world is currently going through a Covid-19 pandemic.
For me that means I'm shielding (I take immuno-suppression drugs which means I'm at high-risk), which gives me a hell of a lot of alone time with my thoughts.
I am able to work from home, which is great as I think I'd go crazy if I had nothing to do during the week!
In the UK we've been quite lucky as the weather has been beautiful and scorching throughout most of this pandemic, which in turn, also makes it worse when you aren't allowed to leave the house!
Anyway, enough about me and what's currently going on in the world, I'm sure you're all just as sick and tired as I am with this Covid-19 situation!
I have decided to start reviewing books over here on my blog (as well as anything else I think you may find mildly interesting) and I'm starting with the very first book I read this year, The House We Grew Up In by Lisa Jewell.
I picked this book up at the beginning of the year in a mini book spree at The Works (UK-based book/stationary shop).
I hadn't really read a book from start to finish since I was at University, which is near on 4 years ago now! I decided to start with this one as I was so intrigued by the blurb;
'Meet the Bird family. They live in a honey-colored house in a picture-perfect Cotswolds village, with rambling, unkempt gardens stretching beyond. Pragmatic Meg, dreamy Beth, and tow-headed twins Rory and Rhys all attend the village school and eat home-cooked meals together every night. Their father is a sweet gangly man named Colin, who still looks like a teenager with floppy hair and owlish, round-framed glasses. Their mother is a beautiful hippy named Lorelei, who exists entirely in the moment. And she makes every moment sparkle in her children's lives.
Then one Easter weekend, tragedy comes to call. The event is so devastating that, almost imperceptibly, it begins to tear the family apart. Years pass as the children become adults, find new relationships, and develop their own separate lives. Soon it seems as though they've never been a family at all. But then something happens that calls them back to the house they grew up in -- and to what really happened that Easter weekend so many years ago.'
I was desperate to find out what this devastating secret was to split the family apart so much.
As I began reading, it became apparent to me that the Mother, Lorelei, was an extreme hoarder, and this was going to be a big part of the story.
I must admit, it took me a long while to work my way through this book. Not because it was badly written or it was a bad story, I simply struggled with relating to any of the characters, and I got very frustrated with Lorelei's character and how she neglected her children and focused on the hoarding to deal with the secret in the family.
I found Lisa's writing very easy and descriptive. I love reading very detailed stories, it really helps me picture a scene and get involved in the story a lot more.
The terrible secret really was tragic. And Lisa showed each character's grief in different and unique ways, creating a very authentic picture of how much humans differ in handling their emotions.
I was also very happy with the ending; it came full circle and allowed for a happy ending of sorts for each of the characters.
Overall, I enjoyed this book thoroughly, and I am looking forward to reading more of Lisa Jewell's novels.
I would give it a 7/10.
I hope you like this little book review! I will upload a new review once a week of the books I have already read, and will always update when I finish another.
Thanks for reading!
