Many thanks to NetGalley and Dial Press/Random House for gifting me a digital ARC of this bittersweet book by Harriet Kline - 4 shining stars!
Ollie's dad died. Ollie is a different child and he's not always sure he fits into his family just as they aren't sure about him. But when Rich dies at a young age of a brain tumor, the entire family is thrown and unsure of how to navigate their grief. Mom, Ruth, sinks into depression; her mom, Angran, remains angry at life; Nessa, Ruth's sister, was Rich's friend as well and tries to get Ruth to move on. Rich's parents, dealing with their own issues, struggle with losing their son. Rich left a present for each family member and Ollie helped wrap them up. But things didn't turn out as planned and Ollie is desperate to set things right.
The story is told from all the different viewpoints of the family members, both before Rich's death and after. Ruth's childhood issues come into play in all her relationships and she has to come to terms with them. This is a wonderful story of grief - of loss, of coming together, of moving on. I loved all the different voices and how the author let us see different viewpoints at different times to tell the same story through another's eyes. Which is another important lesson from this book - what we think others may want or need may not be true.
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