3.75 stars

Well, I finally did it. I’ve had this book on my TBR since October and even started it twice, both times setting it aside because I just wasn’t in the mood for it. I thought about un-hauling it a couple of times, but something kept it on my shelves. When I finally picked it up, I allowed myself to just take it in little bits, which is not normally how I read, usually preferring to read a book in one or two sittings. But I’m glad I took my time with this one.

Ultimately, I enjoyed this book. I liked the way the author played with POV and tense, and the structure of jumping around in time was confusing at first, but the way the author stitched all of these separate timelines together to create a narrative was very well done. There were moment we would learn things in one timeline about the characters in another and I loved those moments.

In some ways, this has a very slice-of-life feeling to it. We’re seeing all of these characters at very specific points in their lives, and only for a very short time, with only Birdie and Birchwood (the home) as the continual thread through it all.

The ending is a little vague in that we don’t get solid resolution for really any of the characters. If that’s sort of thing bothers you, this may not be the book for you. I usually prefer to have more resolution, but it makes sense in this book.

This book will not be for every reader. I can see many people feeling bored and potentially confused by all the characters and timeline. I had those moments myself, but every time we would jump from one character/timeline to another, I realized how invested I was with that person’s story. I just wanted it to keep going.