ASK Musings

Three Stars

Best for:
People who like their mysteries best when they don’t start with a murder.

In a nutshell:
After going on a first date to a hypnotism show, Melody starts to remember things from her childhood.

Worth quoting:
N/A

Why I chose it:
I’ve enjoyed her books this year, and I find the audio versions are great for longer runs.

What it left me feeling:
Not much

Review:
This book is not bad. It feels different that Jewell’s other work, but it still has that telltale jumping back and forth through time. However, everything is from Melody’s perspective, instead of having multiple chapters from other perspectives.

Melody’s first childhood memory is of her father rescuing her from a fire when she was nine. Skipping ahead, she is 33 with a nearly 18-year-old son. What happen in between? And what happened before? Melody doesn’t date much, but agrees to go out with Ben, who takes her to a hypnotism show where she is called up to be a volunteer. She passes out, and from then on starts having these very vivid memories from when she was very young – 4, 5 and 6. Memories that don’t involve her parents.

What they do involve are a whole other life, which starts with two parents (different form the ones she had at age nine), and a baby sister who dies within a couple of days of birth. Much of the book looks at how grief impacts everyone it touches, and how parents deal with the death of a child.

Jewell challenges herself in that she is spending much of the book writing from the point of view of a very small child. What would that child think? How would they view things? And how can Jewell write it so we see what Melody does but also understand much more than she does?

As I said, this book is a bit different, but it is interesting.

Recommend to a Friend / Keep / Donate it / Toss it:
Donate it

Books CBR15