2 out of 5 stars

Thank you so much to St. Martins Press and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I feel like I’m in the minority here because I really didn’t like this book. It did peak my interest in the beginning but at the same time I was confused by the dialogue. It was kind of all over the place and numerous times I found myself lost to what was going on in the book. Also it really irritated me that the fifteen-year-old was tasked with always watching his baby brother while his parents both “worked”. The fact that the mom had no clue how to even get both of them ready in the mornings was horrible.

This book is about a family that recently moved due to the husband Finn cheating on his wife Bridget with her best friend. They have two sons, Jared and Toby, and Bridget is the main bread winner in the family until Finn finds out his art is going to be showcased and is looking at getting a lot of money. It seems like everything is going good for the family in their new home until a tragedy occurs that rocks their worlds. Each one takes the blame for it in their own way and their family starts shattering.

I wasn’t a huge fan of any of the characters in this book and honestly I found the parents Finn and Bridget really creepy. Who swims naked with their fifteen year old son? Also like I said before, Jared was tasked with pretty much always watching his younger brother while still trying to be a kid himself and go to school. That really annoyed me since the dad was the one supposed to be keeping an eye on him while the mom worked. The obsession that Jared had with his litter brother was also creepy and that somehow made him think that he was gay was another poor point in the book for me. And don’t even get me started on the ending, the parents go into the pool turned into a pond and have sex and then……?

All in all I really didn’t care for this book. I understand it was the author’s own story from losing her little sister to a drowning when she was younger but if that’s how her life really played out after the tragedy I honestly feel sorry for her.