To be honest, I was a bit worried that this was going to be a book I couldn’t “get into”, but I was left pleasantly surprised by the impact of each of the character’s stories. While they were at times completely unlikeable, even frustrating, their experiences & the slow unraveling of each of their stories, helped to build an understanding & level of empathy that I was unprepared for. I became invested in each of them & wanted the best for them, I was happy with where the author chose to leave each of them in the final chapters.
In the end, I really enjoyed reading this book. It had a nice flow to it, it was relevant & the themes written about in this story helped to educate me in ways I didn’t even know I needed educating in.
Another reason this book kind of grabbed me, I grew up in the very towns described in this book. I went to high school in Finley, NSW. I left when I was still a teenager, but the link pulled me back to a much younger version of myself & again, placed me in the shoes of the character, growing up in a tiny, country town where everyone knows everyone’s business & outsiders struggle to fit in.