grief

The Keeper of Stories

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Book Review (more just a pile of my personal opinions from my personal experiences)

Title: The Keeper of Stories

Author: Sally Page

Year: 2023

Genre: Modern fiction with some romance?

Queer shit: Nope.

Vibe Check: House cleaner in a failing marriage nurtures relationships with clients and finds real friendship among them while collecting other peoples’ stories as a mode of processing her own stories of trauma

Pile of Opinions: Ok so I am gonna start with the last 20% of this book needs content warnings for DV, child abuse, and….murder. I say this because this did not fit the first 80% of the book vibe and felt like a huge change in direction. I understand the author was likely giving depth and background to the main character but the lead up was not enough for this to make sense and then just be fine at the end of the book? The husband is gonna make you want to be a violent person. Our MC owns a cleaning business and cleans peoples houses but also has built these relationships with her clients as a part of a mutual support system. She goes through life collecting other people’s stories while preferring to stay in the background. Now I recognize this is likely her response to early trauma and losing her understanding of self and wanting to be unnoticed while putting up with her husband’s bullshit, it still felt like someone wrote the first 80% and someone else wrote the last 20% and wanted to shock everyone. Looking at this through understanding the main character’s journey and growth I really enjoyed watching her find herself and find her voice while building the life and future she wants. I loved the relationships she built with her many clients and how she was able to be companions with people who felt shame needing the help of a cleaner. This book is for you if you like to be surprised and want characters with depth that is buried deep as well as justice and unlikely friendships.

Professional Reader

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The Notekeeper

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Book Review (more just a pile of my personal opinions from my personal experiences)

Title: The Notekeeper

Author: Hannah Treave

Year: 2023

Genre: Romance? I actually don’t know. Is grief fiction a genre? It should be

Queer shit: none that registered

Vibe Check: Hospice nurse works through her own grief while giving her patience the best death she can

Pile of Opinions: This book was an absolute HR nightmare haha Our MC is a hospice nurse from Australia who has been working in England for a couple years. She tragically lost her child and fell apart with no idea how to begin processing her grief. She abandons her marriage and goes to England to work at a hospice house. Her mission becomes to help others have the most comfortable and dignified death she can give them. She spends her spare time writing cards and notes to residents and makes time to take down unofficial final words and wishes from her patience. Sometimes people want to apologize to a family member, sometimes they need to say goodbye to someone. She delivers these letters after they pass as part of her own grief processing and to honor their wishes. The hospice house gets bought by a new owner who sends someone to evaluate the hospice house’s practices and management. This, of course, throws off the unconventional way she does things and she will have to convince him of the value of her notes. This story celebrates the beauty of people being in our life for a meaningful and sometimes short amount of time. The stories tug at your heartstrings and address many complexities of grief. The love story in this book sort of threw me and felt almost out of place honestly. Also the timing of this book was super confusing and the entire thing possibly took place over two or three weeks? I assume it was more like 6-12 months but even that is a big gap and I’m super unsure. I enjoyed the stories and books about grief always hit me hard. The MC had to rebuild her life, and her career, while finding ownership of her decisions and building a life she chooses. This book was full of found family, rebuilding after loss, and building your dream life.

Professional Reader

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Ghosts, Toast, and other Hazards

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Book Review (more just a pile of my personal opinions from my personal experiences)

Title: Ghosts, Toast, and Other Hazards

Author: Susan Tan

Year: 2023

Genre: Middle grade, ghosts, split families, loss, Asian-American, Middle School 

Queer shit: Implied the Uncle and main character are queer, labels undefined

Vibe Check: This one hit hard, so intense and so relatable and still felt age appropriate for the main character being 12

Pile of Opinions: SO GOOD. I don’t know if my 12 year old self could have handled the nightmares, dreams, and ghosts in this because I was a really sensitive kid, but I also think I could have benefitted from this book at 12 for the same reason. So many heavy and very real themes covered with split families, feeling like you have to be the adult sometimes at 12, parents’ mental illness, learning who to trust and how to nurture friendships. People are so complicated at all ages and I feel this book captured that. We are haunted by so many things throughout our whole lives and we should never underestimate what kids can experience. I would recommend this book for kids who find this heavy and raw discussion of really tough situations and feelings helpful, and kids who are experiencing big life changes like moves or parents splitting up. I really enjoyed this story, the character development of the lead as she learned about herself, her grief, and her community, as well as the symbolism around the nightmares and ghosts. I would also recommend this book to parents of 12 year-olds, it’s easy to forget how heavy the world feels at that age and we, the adults, need to do our best to support them through it.

Professional Reader

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Edie in Between

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Book Review (more just a pile of my personal opinions from my personal experiences)

Title: Edie in Between

Author: Laura Sibson 

Year: 2021

Genre: YA Fiction/fantasy? grief/loss, magic

Queer shit: Lead character is a a queer girl who likes girls

Vibe Check: witchy stuff, cursed house, boats haha 

Pile of Opinions: The short summary is a girl loses her mom and when someone in their family dies their ghost still hangs around. Edie has to move in with her grandma and learns about her family’s history with magic and the family home that is a little (a lot) cursed and the adventures that go with learning where you come from and who you get to be. I liked how this book approached grief and I read the book as a bit of a metaphor for grieving. I’m not sure if that’s what the author intended but since I had just recently lost someone close, grief was heavy on my mind. I really connected to Edie’s grief and how losing someone so close can rock your identity and also create a push to take root in who you are. The magic was throughout the book, though the fantasy was really only in the last hundred pages. I did like the cursed house though and am possibly too intrigued by it. It’s best I stay home as much as I do, my radar for danger is not great haha If my life were a book I would be making smart ass comments about my decisions regularly. Ok, I already do. I also really loved the cover of this book a lot!

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