I’m not super enthralled by historical fiction, but I do love the theater and I live in Virginia, which is why I chose to read this book.  It was pretty cool to be so familiar with the towns, cities, and precincts mentioned throughout the book. I enjoyed how the stories all came together and especially loved how they were explained in the author’s note at the end. 

This book went in a completely different direction than I was expecting. A thief turned nurse?! What?  But it actually really worked!  There were moments of suspense, romance, mystery, and lots of character development. 

I think this book could’ve been much better if it didn’t switch back and forth so often from different times in the past to different times in the present. I found myself having to reread sections to figure out what I’d missed and it’d turn out I was reading about present day and I thought it was one of the past days (or visa-versa). 

Anyway, parts of it were really good and I liked the idea of the story. 

This book felt extremely raw and honest. It delves into the highs and lows of parenting, especially those with disabilities. It actually felt good to know the unfiltered thoughts of parents vs the “safe for public” thoughts that most people share regularly. The storyline kept me invested and I found it to be incredibly eye-opening.  

What a sweet story!  I loved it. A little slow for my liking, but still very sweet and had twists and turns I was not expecting.  

It’s very hard to write a review for a book like this. Words/phrases that describe it would be: brutal, hard to read, in-the-moment, etc. As someone who works in Charlottesville and is very familiar with Aug 8-12 and all of the events leading up to those dates (and beyond), reading this book allowed me to learn a lot of what was happening behind the scenes and I thought that was neat. Read via audiobook, would’ve loved to have had multiple narrators to help with the flow of the book. 

What a ride! This book was fast paced and full of suspense, the perfect makings of a good book.  Without giving anything away, Drowning reminded me of that movie Deep Blue Sea where all of the characters form a special bond and then as some of them die throughout the movie, the group must grieve and then regroup in order to survive. If you like fast paced and high action, this book is meant for you. 

I truly enjoyed this book/story. When life got busy and I had to put it down, I was excited to pick it back up again.  There were so many things I liked about Happiness Falls. 
- I’d repressed a ton of memories starting from March 2020 up until…. Well I think I’m still doing that. But this book takes place in June 2020 and reminded me of the craziness that defined the pandemic. Masking outside, covid exposures tracked by the health department, phone calls to decide exact dates of exposure, etc. What an awful and scary time. 
- Angelman Syndrome and any other disability. Kim does a wonderful job educating and allowing differing points of view. 
- Grief, trauma, and how they affect thought processing
- Kim provides real life examples for how families can and should function amidst life’s obstacles. 
- So many other things, but this review is long enough already. 

Def give this book a read, you won’t regret it. 

Wow. Wow. This was fantastic! I am still reeling after finishing this book. I have always loved whales, so this book just spoke to my soul! (I’m still waiting on a therapist to help me work through why I loved this book so much, lol). 

Disclaimer: I read this via audiobook and I hiiiiighly recommend you do the same. It’s theatrical and I’m just not sure the same story will be told otherwise. 

Another disclaimer: the book is gross! Like bloody and fishy and nasty, but soooo intriguing! I’m a nurse so blood and guts doesn’t usually bother me, but to place myself in the belly of a whale with descriptions was intense! Still fantastic though! 

Final disclaimer: push through the beginning, it gets so much better! I felt a little lost at the beginning of the book but once it takes off, it soars. 

Now, you may be asking yourself “why would I read a book with all the disclaimers here??”  Valid question, but take my word for it. The STORY is just so good. The symbolism and themes and relevance and and and….  it’s just so good!  

I’d love to hear your thoughts if you end up reading this gem of a novel!

This book was just weird. Things didn’t add up and I saw the story going several different ways and then it just seemed to crash and burn.