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So Much Love
When a young woman named Catherine Reindeer vanishes without a trace from her small town, those who know her are left to cope with her absence. Moving back and forth from her outer circle of acquaintances to her closest intimates, Rebecca Rosenblum’s first novel reveals how the lives of those left behind can be overturned in the wake of an unexplained disappearance. But at the heart of the novel is Catherine’s own surprising story of resilience and recovery.
When a final devastating loss after months of captivity forces her to make a bold decision, she is unprepared for everything that follows her dramatic escape. Woven throughout are stories about a local female poet who was murdered decades earlier, a woman whose life and work become a lifeline for Catherine during her darkest hours—and who may ultimately hold the key to Catherine’s quest to find solace in the aftermath of unimaginable tragedy.
So Much Love is a haunting novel of longing and loss, the necessity of bearing witness, and how the stories we tell have the power to shape our lives.
When a final devastating loss after months of captivity forces her to make a bold decision, she is unprepared for everything that follows her dramatic escape. Woven throughout are stories about a local female poet who was murdered decades earlier, a woman whose life and work become a lifeline for Catherine during her darkest hours—and who may ultimately hold the key to Catherine’s quest to find solace in the aftermath of unimaginable tragedy.
So Much Love is a haunting novel of longing and loss, the necessity of bearing witness, and how the stories we tell have the power to shape our lives.
288 pages, Paperback
First published February 21, 2017
9 people are currently reading
806 people want to read
About the author
Rebecca Rosenblum
11 books65 followersRebecca Rosenblum’s fiction has been short-listed for the Journey Prize, the National Magazine Award, the Amazon First Novel Award and the Trillium Award. Her collection, Once, won the Metcalf-Rooke Award and was one of Quill and Quire’s 15 Books That Mattered in 2008. her first novel So Much Love has been translated into French and Polish. Rebecca lives, works, and writes in Toronto.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 98 reviews
March 16, 2017
3+ stars. I liked a lot about So Much Love, but I felt bogged down in its execution. So Much Love tells the story of 27 year old Catherine Reindeer who has recently disappeared. Told from many different points of view, we come to learn about how Catherine disappeared, how her disappearance is connected to another recent disappearance, her connection to a poet who died a few years earlier, and the impact all this has on a number of lives. So Much Love is genre defying. It's not a mystery or a thriller, although it has the semblance of a mystery in some respects. But overall it's more like a reflection on what it would really be like for the people involved if someone disappeared -- the sense of loss, fear, tedium, anger, pain and uncertainty. I thought the concept was clever and there were many things I liked -- I especially liked Catherine herself and her relationship with her husband Grey. But I came to feel lost in all of these characters' inner thoughts -- the deep subjectivity of the characters felt like it overtook the sense that I was reading a good story. This is my own experience -- it might reflect a certain restlessness at the time I read this one -- I urge any potential readers to read some of the other enthusiastic reviews. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read an advance copy.
December 9, 2017
3.5 Stars!
So Much Love is told from multiple perspectives and is a moving story about survival and the true definition of living.
The prose is sophisticated and detailed. And the plot, although it seems to be almost too much to take in at times, is a heartbreaking look into the psychological and physical effects of violence on not only those directly impacted, but also the trickle effects felt by other members of the community at large.
Overall I found So Much Love to be a unique, creative story and I must thank Goodreads giveaways and Penguin Random House Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.
So Much Love is told from multiple perspectives and is a moving story about survival and the true definition of living.
The prose is sophisticated and detailed. And the plot, although it seems to be almost too much to take in at times, is a heartbreaking look into the psychological and physical effects of violence on not only those directly impacted, but also the trickle effects felt by other members of the community at large.
Overall I found So Much Love to be a unique, creative story and I must thank Goodreads giveaways and Penguin Random House Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.
March 15, 2017
I loved it so much. A beautiful, fantastic novel that will make you glad to live in the world, in spite of everything. SO MUCH LOVE, indeed.
March 7, 2020
Full Review on The Candid Cover
One thing that makes a great thriller is a story that has so much potentiality for the reader. The possibility that one might be kidnapped is a terrifying thought and the main character in So Much Love by Rebecca Rosenblum is one who has great strength in spite of her fate. This novel is beautifully written and contains so many Canadian references, that will make many Canadian readers envision some of the setting with ease.
Catherine Reindeer is really quite a unique and interesting character. Her quirky personality and determination to obtain her degree at her own pace are admirable and earns her the affection of those in her life. The connections that she makes with a dead local poet’s poems helps her to persevere the darkest moments of being held captive and later help her to heal.
Told in alternating points of view, this novel gives the reader many layers to the mystery of how Catherine disappeared and the mindset of all those affected by her disappearance. Even the POV of her perpetrator is given, which is a little bit creepy, but definitely gives insight into why he commits the crime. Also, So Much Love contains so much symbolism pertaining to colour that makes the novel really interesting and creates a deeper understanding of the characters and setting.
There is something about a familiar setting that grabs a reader’s attention. While reading So Much Love, I felt as though Rosenblum really captured small town Canada with references such as Tim Horton’s and Shopper’s Drug Mart. The picture that she paints of this small town in western Canada are gorgeous and despite the dark nature of the story, these aspects were a lot of fun to read.
So Much Love is a thrilling literary fiction that is captivating and well-written. The strong-willed main character and Canadian setting make this novel intriguing and interesting. The theme is one that is not easy to read, but the wonderful story telling makes this book a must-read.
One thing that makes a great thriller is a story that has so much potentiality for the reader. The possibility that one might be kidnapped is a terrifying thought and the main character in So Much Love by Rebecca Rosenblum is one who has great strength in spite of her fate. This novel is beautifully written and contains so many Canadian references, that will make many Canadian readers envision some of the setting with ease.
Catherine Reindeer is really quite a unique and interesting character. Her quirky personality and determination to obtain her degree at her own pace are admirable and earns her the affection of those in her life. The connections that she makes with a dead local poet’s poems helps her to persevere the darkest moments of being held captive and later help her to heal.
Told in alternating points of view, this novel gives the reader many layers to the mystery of how Catherine disappeared and the mindset of all those affected by her disappearance. Even the POV of her perpetrator is given, which is a little bit creepy, but definitely gives insight into why he commits the crime. Also, So Much Love contains so much symbolism pertaining to colour that makes the novel really interesting and creates a deeper understanding of the characters and setting.
There is something about a familiar setting that grabs a reader’s attention. While reading So Much Love, I felt as though Rosenblum really captured small town Canada with references such as Tim Horton’s and Shopper’s Drug Mart. The picture that she paints of this small town in western Canada are gorgeous and despite the dark nature of the story, these aspects were a lot of fun to read.
So Much Love is a thrilling literary fiction that is captivating and well-written. The strong-willed main character and Canadian setting make this novel intriguing and interesting. The theme is one that is not easy to read, but the wonderful story telling makes this book a must-read.
January 18, 2017
Besides absolutely loving that the book mentions Tim Hortons, Shopper Drug Mart and picking up Swiss Chalet when you are having a rough day, I loved this book. I liked the similarities to Room where you got to see how the abducted felt after being freed. I also loved that you got to see how the abduction affected the people closest to those taken and how they reacted and felt when they abducted was found.
December 30, 2018
Oomph, what a story. Not for the faint of heart, this is a gut-wrenching novel centring around a missing woman told from multiple points of view. Although very little of the violence is described, it's still a haunting premise and the people and circumstances stay with you. A great deep dive into the emotional lives of the people affected by horrific crime, for fans of Zoe Whittall's The Best Kind of People.
May 16, 2022
A close look at an abduction of a woman, her escape, and the difficulty she has reintegrating into the life she once had, told from a variety of perspectives.
April 5, 2020
ce livre m’a demandé de la patience et je l’ai dévoré lentement. j’ai adoré l’écriture raffinée dont on ne ressent pas l’urgence de raconter l’histoire mais plutôt de ressentir les détails ,l’insignifiant et le quotidien. tout ce qui va donner un tempo lent et large bénéfique à ce roman.
March 17, 2017
I really love this book. I don't often read stories with heavier themes (YA is more my speed), but this book was a great way for me to start branching out and reading new things. The story was so heartbreaking sometimes that I could only read a few chapters a day - which is in no way a knock on the writing. I just found that I had to occasionally put the book down and take some time to reflect on what each character was going through. I appreciated this. As much as I like fluff and happy endings, I love media that makes me think. I definitely recommend this to those who feel the same way.
(I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway.)
(I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway.)
March 20, 2017
Won in the First Reads giveaway.
I really liked the book, especially when told from Catherine and Grey's POV. Most of the narrators were well written, but Sean didn't really work. Some of the phrasing for him was awkward.
I really liked the book, especially when told from Catherine and Grey's POV. Most of the narrators were well written, but Sean didn't really work. Some of the phrasing for him was awkward.
March 24, 2017
There is a devastating crime at the heart of this story, but the author's empathy and literary skill take this book far beyond the bounds of the words "thriller" or "crime-novel". The author deftly confronts the distressing and sometimes conflicting realities that lie behind a sordid headline (I cried a few times), but ultimately, this is an aptly-named and very life-affirming book.
April 8, 2017
I really enjoyed this book. I found myself torn between wanting to rush through the chapters to find out what happens and wanting to linger in the beautifully written sentences that just so perfectly captured the emotions and experiences of the characters.
Definitely going to recommend this one to my mom.
Definitely going to recommend this one to my mom.
August 13, 2017
So Much Love by Rebecca Rosenblum is a different look at the typical murder/kidnap storyline.
This book is an interesting read, and I wasn't entirely sure what I thought about it that I had to sit on the story for quite a few days. There are multiple storylines, and not all are equal. The perspectives of Catherine and her professor really intrigued me, while the other point of views bored me and sometimes made me question why they were in the novel. Basing it off what the back cover says, it's showing the "complexity of love and the power of stories to shape our lives", but I'm not quite sure how they all fit in.
I do love Rebecca Rosenblum's writing style. When I was reading Catherine's point of view I was hooked and wanted to much more. I even expected so much more - since the ending left me feeling like there were parts of the story missing. Catherine and her husband's desire to have a child just disappeared - it was such a big part of the story and it was never brought up again, not even a side line comment in regards to it.
This story wasn't exactly a mystery or a thriller, but it wasn't your typical murder/kidnapping story either. I enjoyed seeing the different points of view in regards to their feelings about the situation, but it just felt like there were pieces missing. I would definitely suggest reading this book because it's style of writing is fantastic, but plot wise it could have been cleaned up a bit (in my opinion). There were also some points in regards to our character knowing her kidnappers name yet we never hear an introduction or how they knew each other. It was quite frustrating to me...
Overall, I think this story had so much potential and Rebecca will only grow the more she writes. I hope she comes back to this story at some point (perhaps a sequel?) and expands more on this concept. It was such a great idea and it was unique.
Three out of five stars.
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
This book is an interesting read, and I wasn't entirely sure what I thought about it that I had to sit on the story for quite a few days. There are multiple storylines, and not all are equal. The perspectives of Catherine and her professor really intrigued me, while the other point of views bored me and sometimes made me question why they were in the novel. Basing it off what the back cover says, it's showing the "complexity of love and the power of stories to shape our lives", but I'm not quite sure how they all fit in.
I do love Rebecca Rosenblum's writing style. When I was reading Catherine's point of view I was hooked and wanted to much more. I even expected so much more - since the ending left me feeling like there were parts of the story missing. Catherine and her husband's desire to have a child just disappeared - it was such a big part of the story and it was never brought up again, not even a side line comment in regards to it.
This story wasn't exactly a mystery or a thriller, but it wasn't your typical murder/kidnapping story either. I enjoyed seeing the different points of view in regards to their feelings about the situation, but it just felt like there were pieces missing. I would definitely suggest reading this book because it's style of writing is fantastic, but plot wise it could have been cleaned up a bit (in my opinion). There were also some points in regards to our character knowing her kidnappers name yet we never hear an introduction or how they knew each other. It was quite frustrating to me...
Overall, I think this story had so much potential and Rebecca will only grow the more she writes. I hope she comes back to this story at some point (perhaps a sequel?) and expands more on this concept. It was such a great idea and it was unique.
Three out of five stars.
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
July 13, 2017
What a beautiful, devastating book. The collection of voices Rosenblum gathers to tell this story are remarkable. It's a painful story, to be sure, but there is hope too. And even humour. As anyone who has read her short fiction can attest to, Rosenblum shines when she writes about the everyday acts of living -- spinning it all into fascinating art. With So Much Love, this skill has been elevated. The plot is beyond the everyday -- it's a thriller. And the emotional resonance is also far deeper, the stakes as high as they can get. So Much Love is a powerful literary pager-turner and Rosenblum is a total star.
March 25, 2017
Rosenblum has played to her strengths as a short story writer here with the style and structure of the book, and it works out great!
April 2, 2017
Please read all of my reviews at http://ultraviolentlit.blogspot.ca!
When two people go missing within months of each other, both from a small town in western Canada, countless lives are affected. Both were taken in broad daylight – Donny from outside his high school, and Catherine from the parking lot of the restaurant she serves at – but there are no other obvious connections between the two victims. What they do have in common are the many people, from acquaintances to loved ones, who are affected by their absence, and these are the people that narrate this quiet, compelling novel.
Each chapter is told from a different point of view, including Catherine’s husband, her mother, and even her university professor, with whom she was studying a local poet, Julianna Ohlin. The poet was murdered years before, and her body found in a nearby field – although the crime was never solved conclusively, it was likely done by her abusive boyfriend. Catherine admired Julianna’s poems, which were about the mundane moments of everyday life – those moments that we don’t appreciate until they are gone. There are echoes of images between sections/characters – watching the same movies, visiting the same locations – that show the tenuous connections that link people together.
The various perspectives read like short stories, although they are woven together to describe the lives of Catherine, Donny and Julianna. And through Catherine’s eyes, we witness her dramatic escape after her devastating final days of captivity. She is able to return home physically, but mentally she is unable to cope with her new reality. This is a quiet, thoughtful novel despite the violent and sickening crimes it depicts – it is not really a thriller, but more of an exploration of how absence affects those who have been left behind.
In many ways, this novel defies genre – there are elements of mystery, but it is more like literary true crime, with a feeling of being ripped straight from the headlines. The potential of abduction and the thought that it could happen to any of us ignites fear in the reader. We can relate so easily to Catherine, especially as a woman – as her friend describes it, “he made her see that these things can happen, that nothing keeps a girl walking home alone safe and sound except good luck.” (Loc. 1996) The Canadian small town feel made it even more real for me, and I loved the many references unique to life in western Canada.
The subjective reactions of Catherine’s loved ones also felt very real – the novel showcases the many feelings one would work through in the face of such a loss, including the tedious waiting for something, anything to happen, to bring the victim home. And after that, the waiting for her to heal alongside the inability to help. Catherine is such a clearly fleshed-out character with a unique personality, and her suffering feels genuine, especially as glimmers of hope shine through.
Unlike the many, many missing girl thrillers that have been filling the shelves lately, So Much Love goes deeper. The author doesn’t use extreme violence or unbelievable twists to manipulate the reader’s emotions, which made me appreciate this book so much more. I also liked the discussion of the healing power of literature that runs through the novel – Julianna’s escape through poetry, Catherine’s tenuous connection to the outside world through short stories as she tries to reenter her former life, and of course the many CanLit references that pop up throughout the story. One of the most important aspects of fiction is its ability to teach empathy to readers, and that idea is reinforced throughout this novel. This is much more than a thriller, it is literary fiction that truly makes you think.
I received this book from McClelland & Stewart and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
When two people go missing within months of each other, both from a small town in western Canada, countless lives are affected. Both were taken in broad daylight – Donny from outside his high school, and Catherine from the parking lot of the restaurant she serves at – but there are no other obvious connections between the two victims. What they do have in common are the many people, from acquaintances to loved ones, who are affected by their absence, and these are the people that narrate this quiet, compelling novel.
Each chapter is told from a different point of view, including Catherine’s husband, her mother, and even her university professor, with whom she was studying a local poet, Julianna Ohlin. The poet was murdered years before, and her body found in a nearby field – although the crime was never solved conclusively, it was likely done by her abusive boyfriend. Catherine admired Julianna’s poems, which were about the mundane moments of everyday life – those moments that we don’t appreciate until they are gone. There are echoes of images between sections/characters – watching the same movies, visiting the same locations – that show the tenuous connections that link people together.
The various perspectives read like short stories, although they are woven together to describe the lives of Catherine, Donny and Julianna. And through Catherine’s eyes, we witness her dramatic escape after her devastating final days of captivity. She is able to return home physically, but mentally she is unable to cope with her new reality. This is a quiet, thoughtful novel despite the violent and sickening crimes it depicts – it is not really a thriller, but more of an exploration of how absence affects those who have been left behind.
In many ways, this novel defies genre – there are elements of mystery, but it is more like literary true crime, with a feeling of being ripped straight from the headlines. The potential of abduction and the thought that it could happen to any of us ignites fear in the reader. We can relate so easily to Catherine, especially as a woman – as her friend describes it, “he made her see that these things can happen, that nothing keeps a girl walking home alone safe and sound except good luck.” (Loc. 1996) The Canadian small town feel made it even more real for me, and I loved the many references unique to life in western Canada.
The subjective reactions of Catherine’s loved ones also felt very real – the novel showcases the many feelings one would work through in the face of such a loss, including the tedious waiting for something, anything to happen, to bring the victim home. And after that, the waiting for her to heal alongside the inability to help. Catherine is such a clearly fleshed-out character with a unique personality, and her suffering feels genuine, especially as glimmers of hope shine through.
Unlike the many, many missing girl thrillers that have been filling the shelves lately, So Much Love goes deeper. The author doesn’t use extreme violence or unbelievable twists to manipulate the reader’s emotions, which made me appreciate this book so much more. I also liked the discussion of the healing power of literature that runs through the novel – Julianna’s escape through poetry, Catherine’s tenuous connection to the outside world through short stories as she tries to reenter her former life, and of course the many CanLit references that pop up throughout the story. One of the most important aspects of fiction is its ability to teach empathy to readers, and that idea is reinforced throughout this novel. This is much more than a thriller, it is literary fiction that truly makes you think.
I received this book from McClelland & Stewart and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
April 1, 2018
“Is the person I was before dead? Or will the worst things that happened to me eventually get diluted by the rest of my life, become just a part of the story that I’ve always been writing?”
When this book came up for me at the library I couldn’t remember why I had flagged it to read and went in half-expecting a formulaic story about a woman taken and held against her will. Multiple other stories have been written around this trope. I was happily mistaken. Indeed Catherine Reindeer was taken and held against her will but this traumatic event really served to facilitate a higher purpose for this book. Although a couple of chapters focused on Catherine in captivity and the horrors she and another young high school boy were facing the majority of the book focused on Catherine’s life itself; the before and after her horrific experience. Her ordinary but full life, loved and liked by many; happily married and optimistically loving each day. How this love and ordinariness sustained her throughout her captivity and how much of herself and that life she lost after she was free. The narrative was told through multiple points of view: Catherine herself and those who knew and loved Catherine: her husband Grey and her mother, her friends at work and even one of her University professors. Interspersed was the perspective of others: her captor (a chilling segment of the book for sure), the girlfriend of the young man she was held captive with and that of Julianne a young poet from Catherine’s hometown who was murdered 15 years before in BC. It was Julianne’s poetry about ordinary everyday things in life and the similarity of much of her life to Catherine’s that enabled the strength and will Catherine needed to survive her ordeal. This is a story about how trauma affects the individual and those around them. How those who love you most struggle to cope with the incident and the you you’ve become because of it. How loving and being loved can sometimes be enough but sometimes not. As in the passage I shared at the beginning of this review, every event in our lives shapes us and changes us and one can never go back to the person they were before. Especially with a traumatic event, one is forever altered and those that really love us have to realize that and recognize too that they and the life they shared with their loved one are also irreversibly transformed.
This was Rebecca Rosenblum’s first full novel and a very strong debut. Highly recommended.
When this book came up for me at the library I couldn’t remember why I had flagged it to read and went in half-expecting a formulaic story about a woman taken and held against her will. Multiple other stories have been written around this trope. I was happily mistaken. Indeed Catherine Reindeer was taken and held against her will but this traumatic event really served to facilitate a higher purpose for this book. Although a couple of chapters focused on Catherine in captivity and the horrors she and another young high school boy were facing the majority of the book focused on Catherine’s life itself; the before and after her horrific experience. Her ordinary but full life, loved and liked by many; happily married and optimistically loving each day. How this love and ordinariness sustained her throughout her captivity and how much of herself and that life she lost after she was free. The narrative was told through multiple points of view: Catherine herself and those who knew and loved Catherine: her husband Grey and her mother, her friends at work and even one of her University professors. Interspersed was the perspective of others: her captor (a chilling segment of the book for sure), the girlfriend of the young man she was held captive with and that of Julianne a young poet from Catherine’s hometown who was murdered 15 years before in BC. It was Julianne’s poetry about ordinary everyday things in life and the similarity of much of her life to Catherine’s that enabled the strength and will Catherine needed to survive her ordeal. This is a story about how trauma affects the individual and those around them. How those who love you most struggle to cope with the incident and the you you’ve become because of it. How loving and being loved can sometimes be enough but sometimes not. As in the passage I shared at the beginning of this review, every event in our lives shapes us and changes us and one can never go back to the person they were before. Especially with a traumatic event, one is forever altered and those that really love us have to realize that and recognize too that they and the life they shared with their loved one are also irreversibly transformed.
This was Rebecca Rosenblum’s first full novel and a very strong debut. Highly recommended.
April 12, 2017
DNF at 51%.
Unfortunately, I stopped reading this book when I was halfway through it. I tried really hard to become invested in this novel, especially because it’s from a Canadian author, but I was unable to do so.
So Much Love is a debut novel from Rebecca Rosenblum, and it falls into the pitfalls that a lot of debut novels fall into. There are far too many characters in the book. While I understood that the goal was to show how the disappearance of Catherine Reindeer impacted those who knew her, the end result was disjointed. Every chapter was from the point of view of somebody else, but their names were never explicitly pointed out so it took a while to understand who was speaking. I could have gotten past this, but the main problem was there was no cohesion in the story and because we jumped between the (many!) characters, it was hard to gain an understanding of who they were as people.
Another huge issue I had with this book was that it was so dreadfully slow. I don’t mind it when novels are slow and there’s great character development, but this book didn’t have either for me. I couldn’t connect to the characters or the plot and I just didn’t care how the story was going to turn out.
I’m really disappointed that I couldn’t finish this novel because it sounded very intriguing and it has beautiful, poetic writing. I just found myself really disconnected to it. I’m sure this book has an audience out there and it has great ratings, but it just wasn’t for me.
I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This has affected my review in no way.
Unfortunately, I stopped reading this book when I was halfway through it. I tried really hard to become invested in this novel, especially because it’s from a Canadian author, but I was unable to do so.
So Much Love is a debut novel from Rebecca Rosenblum, and it falls into the pitfalls that a lot of debut novels fall into. There are far too many characters in the book. While I understood that the goal was to show how the disappearance of Catherine Reindeer impacted those who knew her, the end result was disjointed. Every chapter was from the point of view of somebody else, but their names were never explicitly pointed out so it took a while to understand who was speaking. I could have gotten past this, but the main problem was there was no cohesion in the story and because we jumped between the (many!) characters, it was hard to gain an understanding of who they were as people.
Another huge issue I had with this book was that it was so dreadfully slow. I don’t mind it when novels are slow and there’s great character development, but this book didn’t have either for me. I couldn’t connect to the characters or the plot and I just didn’t care how the story was going to turn out.
I’m really disappointed that I couldn’t finish this novel because it sounded very intriguing and it has beautiful, poetic writing. I just found myself really disconnected to it. I’m sure this book has an audience out there and it has great ratings, but it just wasn’t for me.
I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This has affected my review in no way.
March 12, 2017
Wow, this an incredible story. It is beautifully crafted, powerfully moving, and completely engrossing. I completely disappeared into this book and slowly surfaced back to my simple, ordinary life. The tragedy of the event is not conveyed though the actual event itself, but through the different characters and their emotional handling of that event. The ability of Rebecca Rosenblum to put herself in the shoes of the characters is truly a literary achievement. I remember "losing" a friend, fearing she would never be the same again, and feeling helpless. Rosenblum captured this beautifully and helped me better appreciate a person struggling to return to their self. Such a beautiful, haunting accomplishment for a first novel!
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October 2, 2017I was grateful that the author chose to hint at the abuse Catherine suffered. I think of my girls and really don't want to know what could happen. What I did want to know was that she was powerful enough to extricate herself from a horrible situation. While I thought the writing was clever and thoughtful I wanted more. Like in real life where I want men to stop abusing women.
p. 254 "I read in the paper that her face was all busted up, her hands..." Drew stammered. "He loved her."
"I don't doubt he loved her. It's just that he didn't do anything good with it."
p. 254 "I read in the paper that her face was all busted up, her hands..." Drew stammered. "He loved her."
"I don't doubt he loved her. It's just that he didn't do anything good with it."
June 7, 2017
I won this from Goodreads in exchange for a fair review.
I couldn't put this one down and have already praised it on Litsy (where I'm @BookishTrish). I loved how the story looked at the ripples of effect Catherine's kidnapping had on those around her. I loved the aftermath and unflinching look at how she persisted. Literally my only complaint is that her husband's name was Grey Reindeer -- every time my mind caught on that fact I got taken out of the story.
I couldn't put this one down and have already praised it on Litsy (where I'm @BookishTrish). I loved how the story looked at the ripples of effect Catherine's kidnapping had on those around her. I loved the aftermath and unflinching look at how she persisted. Literally my only complaint is that her husband's name was Grey Reindeer -- every time my mind caught on that fact I got taken out of the story.
March 12, 2017
I won this book from goodreads.
Loved this book! I couldn't put it down and it kept me up reading late into the night.
It is beautifully written and I loved reading the story from the different characters points of view.
Can't wait to see what this author comes up with next. Highly recommended!
Loved this book! I couldn't put it down and it kept me up reading late into the night.
It is beautifully written and I loved reading the story from the different characters points of view.
Can't wait to see what this author comes up with next. Highly recommended!
June 15, 2017
I'm glad that I read a review of this, because based on the title and the cover, I never would have picked this up. I was expecting this to be a bit more of a psychological thriller, but it's really a look at relationships and the impact that a major trauma has on them. I really enjoyed the different points of view.
March 1, 2017
Interesting drama with some thriller elements. Different character perspectives make it difficult to get through and do not always add to the story. More of a drama then I could handle.
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April 9, 2017Such a good novel. I stayed up half the night finishing it and am now bursting to discuss it with fellow readers.
May 17, 2017
Received this from a goodreads giveaway.
Really loved this book. Beautiful writing. The title is perfect.
Really loved this book. Beautiful writing. The title is perfect.
June 11, 2017
I loved it!
August 25, 2017
Stunning, subtle, complicated, fragmented, lovely, sad, contemplative.
September 17, 2017
This book was nothing like I thought it would be but in the best ways possible. While the catalyst for this story is a woman being taken, it is by no means the only thing happening in this book and it doesn't really make this book a thriller. If anything, I would consider this book to be a darker contemporary novel than a thriller.
Thanks so much to Penguin Random House Canada for sending me a copy of this book for an honest review, as always, all opinions are my own.
The story really follows a collection of characters in varying timelines, however, the most prominent is the disappearance of twenty-seven-year-old Catherine, as well as a high school boy, Donny, a few months earlier. This is one of those stories that shows how something like this can shake the whole town, but, unlike many other cases I've read, Rosenblum pulls it off in a stunning way. We read chapters from Catherine's professor, her husband, and mother; Donny's girlfriend, the kidnapper, etc. etc. Each chapter feels necessary to the plot, each narration a new piece of the larger puzzle.
And what it took me about half the book to figure out was that this isn't a thriller about a missing woman and her fight to survive. This is a book about relationships, interactions with the people around us and the love we share with one another. In that sense, I think the title is spot on. Despite the horrible things that happen to Catherine and Donny, there is still love in the world.
This book was truly unlike any other I think I have ever read. Every aspect blew me away. The diction and descriptions of the story were so perfectly chosen and phrased, without trying too hard to be put together. The development of the story through multiple characters and the deeper themes within the book also pleasantly surprised me. Rosenblum's writing style is truly lyrical and established, it's one of those books I won't soon forget, just on writing alone.
I think that it is this writing style that is able to elevate this book from just another thriller to a darker contemporary novel with thriller aspects.
I also loved the fact that this book was written by a Canadian author and is set in a Canadian town. As a Canadian myself, I love it when there are subtle differences that I can pick up on, like calling it "grade ten" instead of "tenth grade." Just little things like that that make the story feel more home-y and give a more intimate setting that I can recognize.
I really don't know if there is anything I can find fault in with this one, maybe if I was being really nit-picky I would say that there were one or two POVs that took me a little longer to get into and to figure out who was speaking. After I figured it out, however, I really got into it.
Overall, a new favourite and one I won't soon forget.
Thanks so much to Penguin Random House Canada for sending me a copy of this book for an honest review, as always, all opinions are my own.
The story really follows a collection of characters in varying timelines, however, the most prominent is the disappearance of twenty-seven-year-old Catherine, as well as a high school boy, Donny, a few months earlier. This is one of those stories that shows how something like this can shake the whole town, but, unlike many other cases I've read, Rosenblum pulls it off in a stunning way. We read chapters from Catherine's professor, her husband, and mother; Donny's girlfriend, the kidnapper, etc. etc. Each chapter feels necessary to the plot, each narration a new piece of the larger puzzle.
And what it took me about half the book to figure out was that this isn't a thriller about a missing woman and her fight to survive. This is a book about relationships, interactions with the people around us and the love we share with one another. In that sense, I think the title is spot on. Despite the horrible things that happen to Catherine and Donny, there is still love in the world.
This book was truly unlike any other I think I have ever read. Every aspect blew me away. The diction and descriptions of the story were so perfectly chosen and phrased, without trying too hard to be put together. The development of the story through multiple characters and the deeper themes within the book also pleasantly surprised me. Rosenblum's writing style is truly lyrical and established, it's one of those books I won't soon forget, just on writing alone.
I think that it is this writing style that is able to elevate this book from just another thriller to a darker contemporary novel with thriller aspects.
I also loved the fact that this book was written by a Canadian author and is set in a Canadian town. As a Canadian myself, I love it when there are subtle differences that I can pick up on, like calling it "grade ten" instead of "tenth grade." Just little things like that that make the story feel more home-y and give a more intimate setting that I can recognize.
I really don't know if there is anything I can find fault in with this one, maybe if I was being really nit-picky I would say that there were one or two POVs that took me a little longer to get into and to figure out who was speaking. After I figured it out, however, I really got into it.
Overall, a new favourite and one I won't soon forget.
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