Unfortunately, this book just didn’t land for me. The pacing felt slow and overly drawn out, which made it hard to stay engaged. While I understand that certain heavy topics like child loss and parental abandonment played a role in the story, I was caught off guard by their presence since they weren’t mentioned in the blurb. For my own mental well being, those elements made it difficult to fully connect with the characters or the narrative.

I also went into this expecting more focus on Norma’s journey to find her birth family. Instead, much of the story centers on her everyday life, with little mention of her past until suddenly, after the death of her “adoptive” parents, she remembers everything. While there’s certainly heartbreak throughout, I just felt the execution lacked the emotional depth or engagement I was hoping for.