Our Little World by Karen Winn

☆☆☆☆☆
.ePUB, 352 pages
Expected Publication: May 3rd 2022
By: Penguin Group, Dutton

About The Book:
July 1985. It’s a normal, sweltering New Jersey summer for soon-to-be seventh grader Bee Kocsis. Her thoughts center only on sunny days spent at Deer Chase Lake, evenings chasing fireflies around her cul-de-sac with the neighborhood kids, and Max, the boy who just moved in across the street. That and the burgeoning worry that she’ll never be as special as her younger sister, Audrina, who seems to effortlessly dazzle wherever she goes. But when Max’s little sister, Sally, goes missing at the lake, Bee’s long-held illusion of stability is shattered in an instant. As the families in her close-knit community turn inward, suspicious, and protective, things in Bee’s own home become increasingly strained, most of all with Audrina, when a shameful secret surfaces. With everything changed, Bee and Audrina’s already-fraught sisterhood is pushed to the limit as they grow up—and apart—in the wake of an innocence lost too soon.

My Review:
This story is written very beautifully, in such a way that it is literary fiction...although coming of age is a better categorization for it. It describes with realistic perfection the heavy weight of expectations from parents, from yourself and of the lies one tells in order not to let down the people you love. From the beginning I did not want to stop reading. The characters are all complex and relatable. The dynamics of each and every family, the effect these dynamics have on each and every family member, I found extremely interesting.  It felt so real, I did not want it to end. The portrait painted feels painfully real and stays in your mind for a really long time. I loved the mystery aspect and the surprise ending(s). Such a beautiful book. I recommend it highly and cannot praise it enough, what a fabulous debut! All. The. Stars.

Disclosure:
With many thanks to NetGalley, Karen Winn and Penguin Group, Dutton for the giving of the ARC.

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