Cover: ★★★
In Short: LOVED IT!
Genre: General Fiction/ Magical Realism
Voice: SUCH GREAT FLOW!
Characters: Imperfect yet beautiful
Page Turner: Yes.
Recommended To: Everyone
Pages: 367 Standard Pages
Published: February 29, 2016
Format: E-Book via OnlineBookClub.org in exchange for an honest review
Penny Rose had been alone her entire life until she became pregnant with her only child. Soon, things changed in ways no one could have ever imagined.
When Penny discovers that she will not live to see her son grow up, she must reach out to the world full of strangers to find the right person to raise him.
At times heartbreaking, at times startling, and at times magical, Penny’s journey is one of self-discovery, love, and acceptance, and speaks to the world where joy and loss, death and beauty are always with us, together, in all things.
Before going into a full review, I’d like to add that this is a very heavy book metaphorically. Trigger Warning: It’s not for fragile hearted people as it showcases the sad, cruel side of the world (in a beautiful way, though); rapes, murders, abuses.
I did have an idea what to expect from this book and how philosophical it would be, so I did postpone reading it. I wasn’t ready for such book. But once I began reading it, I found myself so engrossed in it. Although it was way different than what I usually read, I was very much interested in finishing it. First, let’s talk about the plot.
This is a story of Penny Rose who saw many hardships growing up. She thought she wasn’t worthy of love. She was an orphan and grew up with an abusive parent who made her believe that no one would love her.
“In all things there is beauty, but please help me Lord, because I do not see it in this child.”
But she wished to have a child who’d love her unconditionally and she’d return that love. She was granted her wish and the story mostly follows her pregnancy days. Penny learns that her child has an unnatural power. His heart beats at an erratic rate. And once someone else joins hands with Penny, all 3 hearts beat together and a special memory (not necessarily a happy one but one that is very close to the heart) of that person’s life plays before their eyes.
“The erratic, syncopated beats of my son’s heart had the power to draw stories from the ordinary-hearted with the ease of a magician pulling a rainbow-colored scarf from the innocent hollows of a young girl’s mouth.”
Now this is a magical realism. The special powers mentioned in this book are metaphorical/spiritual, as far as I know, not some fancy power. Through August (Penny’s unborn child), she discovers many stories similar to hers. She makes friends and learns their dark secrets; making her realize that she is not alone.
My brain limps too, he used to say, and they don’t make crutches for that.
After August’s birth, their life continues. Together they face more happiness and hardships. But her son is very special as he tries to find beauty IN ALL THINGS. Then, one day, she learns that she was dying. And August would be all alone. So she tries to find a person capable of being a parent to a child as special as August.
These people were pulled, not by the desire to mate or find food, but by something as key to their survival: they were pulled by the need to finally tell their secrets, to free them, to let them grow wings and fly.
At times, I found myself skimming through some pages as it was getting a wee bit of repetitive or too much of tragic feels. But other than that, this story speaks to me on so many levels. Like August, coming in contact with this book, it drew some dark memories from my core.
I could hear both our hearts now, distinct in the secrets they kept, but now beating, thump-shuffle-whisper-thump, in perfect unison with each other and in perfect unison with my son’s.
The thump-shuffle-whisper-thump of my heart took me to a time when I was 17. I, along with my extended family members, had crowded a hospital bed. The same bed my mom took her last breath in pure silence. The beating and pumping of a Life Support System that rang at several intervals just stopped and that silence echoed in my head the whole time I was reading this book.
The characters, the theme, the whole bunch of pages altogether makes this book such a masterpiece. But, the best thing about this book is the voice. The voice of this book, the narration takes away all the credit. This story shuffles from present scenes to past scenes and from first-person to third-person flawlessly.
Also, the voice suits the protagonist so much. The way the author narrated the story was like how Penny would describe things. The poetic narration suited Penny’s poetic soul if that makes sense.
In all, despite it being very different from what I usually read, I absolutely loved this book. I adored all the characters and by the time I finished this book, I cried buckets of tears. But, for me, the best part was the voice or narration. I’m a very philosophical/ spiritual being and seeing from that side, this book has a lot more to say then it does. And I’m sure no two people would have similar opinions about this story other than it being fantastic. This tale tells different things to different people.
On a concluding note, if such philosophical theme interests you or you love reading books which make you think about life from a very different perspective, this book is for you. It is a masterpiece and it surely deserves more reads.
I hope you find this review helpful. Happy Reading!
AMAZON
A Bookwyrm's Lair 