3.5 stars

This is such an interesting book. It reads almost like a memoir, if fairy tale memoirs were a thing. I kept getting hints of Forrest Gump and Big Fish which probably sounds like a strange combination, but I think it mostly works.

I was surprised when I read that this was a debut novel. I'm really interested to see how the author's style evolves in future books.

There are several different parts to this book. Each chronicles a different point in the life of Weylyn Grey, specifically his effect on the people around him. 99% of the book is from the perspective of characters other than Weylyn, but he is the thread that ties the story together. It felt very cinematic. There are scenes I wish I could've seen rather than read. I could definitely see this as a movie.

The story is very low on plot. If you are a reader who needs a strong plot taking you from one scene to another, this may not be the book for you. If you are the kind of reader who appreciates a quieter book, more focused on characters and the way they relate to each other and the world around them, this is one I would recommend.

I have one major gripe about this book. In one of the vignettes, there are two characters who are incredibly childish. They whine and throw fits about cartoons and not getting their way every second of the day. They read as maybe (MAYBE) 6 and 8 years of age. They are 12 and 14. I was shocked when the eldest brother, whose perspective we're in, says that he is 14 and about to go into high school. Fourteen-year old boys don't throw fits because they lost a pretend magic wand that they made out of a stick. Now, I know that there are kids who are immature, but that's not what this is. Now, this could have been mitigated somewhat if he had been identified as neurodiverse. I kept wondering if we were supposed to assume that this boy was on the autism spectrum. But no one in the book says anything about his behavior being anything but completely average. And that doesn't explain the fact that the younger brother, who is twelve, is throwing a temper tantrum because the power went out and he wasn't able to watch his favorite cartoon. I can't imagine I'm the only person who read this and feels this way. It was actually very distracting for me and made that section of the book a bit of a struggle for me to get through. I just found myself not enjoying it the way I'd enjoyed the rest of the book. The fact that it was close to the end of the book ended up making the book feel a little longer than it needed to be, which I don't think was actually the case.

That being said, I really thought this was a strong debut. There are moments of whimsy and lyricism that brought a big happy grin to my face and moments where I felt heartbroken for the characters even while I understood why they made the decisions they did. All in all, I was satisfied with this story and could see myself recommending it to people.