The Epic Story Of Every Living Thing.

 

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*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review* 

From the award-winning author of Honey, Baby, Sweetheart comes a gorgeous and fiercely feminist young adult novel. When a teen travels to Hawaii to track down her sperm donor father, she discovers the truth about him, about the sunken shipwreck that's become his obsession, and most of all about herself. 

 
Harper Proulx has lived her whole life with unanswered questions about her anonymous sperm donor father. She's convinced that without knowing him, she can't know herself. When a chance Instagram post connects Harper to a half sibling, that connection yields many more and ultimately leads Harper to uncover her father's identity. 

So, fresh from a painful breakup and still reeling with anxiety that reached a lifetime high during the pandemic, Harper joins her newfound half siblings on a voyage to Hawaii to face their father. The events of that summer, and the man they discover—a charismatic deep-sea diver obsessed with solving the mystery of a fragile sunken shipwreck—will force Harper to face some even bigger questions: Who is she? Is she her DNA, her experiences, her successes, her failures? Is she the things she loves—or the things she hates? Who she is in dark times? Who she might become after them? 

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 I have been reading Deb Caletti books for years, and there hasn't been a single book of hers that I didn't end up falling in love with. I have been excited about The Epic Story Of Every Living Thing ever since she announced the book, and when the cover was revealed, I was even more eager to read it. Anyone who sees the cover will be curious about the book. It's one of the most breathtaking covers that I have seen, and it tells the story all its own. I was happy that I got approved to read an early copy of this book. Through the years, I have read a few coming of age books, but I have never read a book like The Epic Story Of Every Living Thing . Honestly, this book is one of those stories that I'm having trouble describing all of the emotions that I felt about the book. 

Harper. I had mixed feelings in the beginning. I didn't think how she treated her boyfriend at the start wasn't respectful. At first, it seemed as if she was obsessed with social media and how she looked. However, she changed once she went to Hawaii and connected with her sperm donor father and the other half siblings. I believe that Harper had the most character development of all the characters. I loved the connection that Harper made with the others. I loved that Harper was determined to meet her sperm donor father, despite her mother telling her otherwise. The trip to Hawaii changed her and made her a completely different person. 

What I loved about The Epic Story Of Every Living Thing is how many real themes were mentioned in the book: anxiety, Covid -19, social media addiction, family, and friends. I have anxiety as Harper did, so I felt I could relate to her in some ways. The story felt so real to me. The beginning started a little slow for me, but once it picked up, I had a hard time putting the book down; I had forced myself to put it down. I couldn't get enough of the story. I would highly recommend this book. 

It was…breathtaking

The Nanny.

 

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*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review* 

20 years ago, a little girl disappeared. You thought it was your fault. Until now… 

To the outside world, I am just like any other mother. I juggle my job with the school run and taking care of my mum, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. My family is everything and I want to keep them safe. 

But when a young woman arrives on my doorstep, a past secret that I have spent years running from comes hurtling into my present. 

In an instant, I am taken back to a dream trip to Thailand and to a job as a nanny that changed my life forever. It was supposed to be my chance at a better life. But it turned into a nightmare.
I try to tell myself that I am overreacting. But the woman in front of me looks so much like him. Is she the child who vanished without a trace? Does she want to be part of my life, or destroy it? 

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 Haunting. Captivating. 

I could use many more words to describe the book, except those would take me days. I love thrillers and mysteries. Ever since I was little, it has been one of my favorite genres to read. However, I was always picky about what type of thrillers and mysteries to read. The Nanny was the type of thriller I love. I couldn’t get enough of this book; I was hooked from the beginning and to the end of the book. Every page had something happening, and it was almost impossible for me to put the book down; I needed to see what would happen next. The Nanny was the first book that I have read by Ruth Heald , and now I am eager to check the rest of her books out. There isn’t a single page in this book that doesn’t have you wondering what’s going to happen when the truth about Chloe is going to comes out. 

I loved the writing style, which went between the present and when Haley was the Nanny for Chloe, Emily, and Eva. Every time I read about the past, I found myself trying to see if I could put the pieces together of what happened. I did get a feeling that Haley wasn’t being honest about something. The way that she was acting after she told Lars what happened in Thailand, there was something else that she was not sharing with him. I wondered if Haley had something to do with Chloe’s disappearance. That was one of the reasons that I kept on reading late into the night, and I wanted to find out what Haley was hiding, was she possibly not the person that everyone thought that she was? The thriller aspect of the story was terrific, and just you thought it couldn’t get any more suspenseful; something new happens. I’m so glad that I got a chance to read an early copy of this book. I would highly recommend checking this book out.