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kellee 's review for:

Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
4.5
emotional medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

William Kent Krueger’s writing evokes nostalgia, a strong sense of place for the Midwest small town, and the bittersweet feeling of crossing a threshold - whether that of youth to adulthood, the choice to know or not know, and the moment you allow yourself to be changed for the better or not.

Despite these rather weighty topics, the book reads with a fast pace, as we gradually build up to the incriminating event, and understand how it all came to be. I have a few minor quibbles with the coincidental timing of things: Frank and Jake are often in just the right place at the right time to overhear secrets. But the message of the book is clear and beautifully summed up in Frank’s father’s sermon: that after a loss, we are only left with “three profound blessings… faith, hope, and love.”

4.5 stars.