This book has been on my radar for some time, but for some reason, I never picked it up until now. Was I ever happy I finally did! I was immediately drawn in from the first page.
First we meet seventeen-year-old Nadia Turner. She's just lost her mother to suicide. She's left with a distant father and a too-quiet home. She picks up with the pastor's twenty-one-year-old son, Luke, and develops an unlikely friendship with Aubrey, a quiet, churchgoing girl who is her opposite in every conceivable way. Until she finds out otherwise. Both girls have empty, broken hearts they're trying to fill.
Most chapters start with hushed gossip coming from The Mothers - a group of older church ladies who go to Upper Room, which turns out to be a sanctuary for some of the characters, an obligation for others. Nadia and Aubrey slip in and out of its doors for different reasons, but both are searching for answers. They have both lost their mothers to different circumstances. Motherhood is a theme played out in different perspectives throughout the novel. The complexity of motherhood, of friendship, and of love are all explored in detail through different lenses.
This is one of those books that fully envelops you. It's constantly asking what if. What if a mother hadn't abandoned her child? What if different paths had been taken, different decisions made? What if so-and-so had never met? What could have resulted if love was chosen instead of betrayal? Is it possible to run away from your problems or does everything eventually catch up to you? Each character is deeply developed and complex. There is the perfect overlap of each one, each person relatable for their own reasons. It doesn't feel in any way like a debut novel. If you, like me, waited till after the buzz died down a bit on this book, go and pick it up. Brit Bennett is a five-star author. I can't wait to see what she does next.
Book cover rating: 3/5
What's inside: 5/5
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