At least once a month, I will try to post a book review. Sometimes it will be a book I read years ago, other times I will have just turned the last page and feel like writing a review.
My reviews will always be about a book I rated with either 4 or 5 stars on Goodreads and/or BookBub and/or Amazon. There are soooo many books available for readers to choose from—and to choose to buy—that I want to save you readers both selection time and hard-earned money. I want to give you “the best bang for your buck.” So, even though there are some 3-star books that are still “good,” I’ll only post reviews about the “better” and “best” books I’ve read.
Goodreads’ Rating System: Amazon’s Rating system: BookBub’s Rating System:
3 stars = I liked it 3 stars = It’s okay 3 stars = Okay
4 stars = I really liked it 4 stars = I like it 4 stars = Good
5 stars = It was amazing 5 stars = I love it 5 stars = Excellent
***** 5 Stars *****
Book Summary
When Ivy Rose returns to her hometown to oversee an estate sale, she soon discovers that her grandmother left behind more than trinkets and photo frames — she provided a path to the truth behind Ivy’s adoption. Shocked, Ivy seeks clues to her past, but a key peice to the mystery is missing.
Twenty four years earlier, Harvey James finds an abandoned newborn who gives him a sense of human connection for the first time in his life. His desire to care for the baby runs up against the stark fact that he is homeless. When he becomes entwined with two people seeking to help him find his way, Harvey knows he must keep the baby a secret or risk losing the only person he’s ever loved.
In this dual-time story from debut novelist Amanda Cox, the truth — both the search for it and the desire to keep it from others — takes center stage as Ivy and Harvey grapple with love, loss, and letting go.
My Thoughts
Amanda Cox crafted a spectacular, emotional page-turner in her debut novel The Edge of Belonging. I read all 384 pages of this novel in only two nights, as the lyrical writing, deep characterization, expertly interwoven dual-time storyline format, and a little mystery, all propeled me to get to the next chapter, and then the next chapter, as fast as I could!
The author’s background in counseling gives authenticity and depth to several weighty topics covered in this touching novel, such as: homelessness, depression, abuse, suicide, abadonment, foster homes, adoption, family love, and romantic love. Cox does a superb job of detailing each subject in a manner that shows the author is definitely gifted in the art of description and diaglogue. I especially loved the realistic and moving scenes the author penned about the interaction between homeless Harvey and baby Ivy. I also grinned to myself during several cute and sweet scenes between adult Ivy and long-time male friend Reese.
The story is set in both 1994/95 and present day. Cox skillfully switched back and forth between these time lines without jarring the reader. The story is also told from different points of view, a presentation I usually don’t care for, but because of the talent Cox brings to the table, this style of writing added layers to the novel.
I was adopted at two months old, but was informed of this from as early as I can remember. I’ve always been so grateful my birth mother had the emotional strength to give me up for adoption instead of aborting me or discarding me on some doorstep. Unfortunately, baby Ivy’s biological parents brought her into this world in an all-together different way than my biological parents did. The way the author handles this siutaiton in the novel makes me all the more thankful for my adoption circumstances, and makes me feel all the more for the characters in this book.
I also feel lucky my adoptive parents are so wonderful and loving, and I know from being adopted that being considered a “real” family doesn’t mean you have to be blood-related. Cox deftly shows how the characters in this novel struggle with these issues, always wondering who is really “family” and where and with whom does a person really belong.
The Edge of Belonging was a book that will stay in my memory, and I look forward to reading the next novel that Amanda Cox writes.