Just finished the book right now and YOU GUYS !! I absolutely have no words to describe the whirlwind of emotions I went through while reading this book.

I bought it at a thrift shop almost 6-8yrs ago, and I finally got around to reading it last week. One of the reasons for my hesitancy was that I thought it was a book about books and wondered how interesting it would actually be, but man was I wrong. It was so much more than that, it literally got me tear-jerking on the SECOND PAGE when 10yo Daniel panicked because he forgot was his mom looked like 😭

The prose were beautiful, the story bitter-sweet and tragic, the descriptions made you feel like you were really there, the author is honestly hilarious and witty - many times I giggled to myself at a quick-witted remark. The flow, the stories of characters interwoven through time and loss, the action, the mystery…I swear it could literally be a movie. Penelope’s ultimate fate absolutely shattered me, it was twist after twist that I never saw coming and as a person who’s seen nearly all the mystery/psych-thriller tropes these twists absolutely surprised me with how disturbing and unique they were.

I was left absolutely speechless, just when you know where the story is headed it takes you somewhere completely different. I found myself rereading passages from how beautiful or tragic they were.

This book has cemented itself in my Top List with the likes of 100 Years of Solitude, The Count of Monte Cristo, East of Eden, and a few others that has a great impact on me.

I just had to put my love for this book into words, and if you haven’t read it yet, go read it now!