Release Date: October 3, 2017
Published by: HarperTeen
Read from: October 2- October 7, 2017
Stand-alone
Source: TxLA
For fans of: Contemporary, Family, Diversity, YA
A contemporary novel about three adopted siblings who find each other at just the right moment.
Being the middle child has its ups and downs.
But for Grace, an only child who was adopted at birth, discovering that she is a middle child is a different ride altogether. After putting her own baby up for adoption, she goes looking for her biological family, including—
Maya, her loudmouthed younger bio sister, who has a lot to say about their newfound family ties. Having grown up the snarky brunette in a house full of chipper redheads, she’s quick to search for traces of herself among these not-quite-strangers. And when her adopted family’s long-buried problems begin to explode to the surface, Maya can’t help but wonder where exactly it is that she belongs.
And Joaquin, their stoic older bio brother, who has no interest in bonding over their shared biological mother. After seventeen years in the foster care system, he’s learned that there are no heroes, and secrets and fears are best kept close to the vest, where they can’t hurt anyone but him..
*MY THOUGHTS*
I was really iffy about this because everyone kept comparing it to one of my favorite shows, This is Us. I just knew that there was no way it would be as good as the show, but yet, it was still pretty close.
Grace, Maya, and Joaquin are all adopted siblings who have all lived very different lives. Grace gives her baby up for adoption which puts in motion her meeting her other two siblings. From there they get to know each other and they find out so much more than they ever thought.
My poor feelings. This is the second book by Benway that I’ve read that has made me have to look at cute kitten gifs online after I finished because of how wrecked I was feeling. However, as sad as I was, it wasn’t enough to make me cry. Which is strange because I normally cry about everything smh lol I even cried at a backpack commercial for Wal-Mart, so I’m not sure how this didn’t get me. I’m thinking it was the characters.
I did like the characters,but at one point, there was a lot of repetitiveness going on. It could’ve been thinned out in my opinion. But, I really did like them all. They were all so different but still family and it reminded me so much of my own family in different ways.
I also really loved the value of this book. It teaches the value of families and how different they are. This is definitely a book that should be required reading. All three different POV’s have something different, but all were important.
Benway has solidified my love for her with this book. Although this book is gut-wrenching, I hope this is one that people will highlight for many years to come.
Overall, I give this
I'm super excited about this book. I read Emmy & Oliver earlier this year and realized how great this author is!! The family feels in that one were awesome, and it sounds like that continues here. I love YA books about family and ones that highlight different kinds of family. I also read THE OTHER F-WORD by Natasha Friend this year– and I loved all the different types of families that were shown. It was a very underrated book. Anyway, great review!! I'm glad to see someone talking about this book 🙂