Everything We Keep and Everything We Left Behind – Kerry Lonsdale.
You might have noticed that pretty much everything I’ve been posting recently is reviews, that’s because I’ve had a backlog of ARCS building up and I’m finally getting around to reading them all, so I figured as these two are part of the same series, I’d do them at the same time! As Everything We Left Behind was scheduled for release, the publisher was kind enough to send me both books so I could catch up.
Sous chef Aimee Tierney has the perfect recipe for the perfect life: marry her childhood sweetheart, raise a family, and buy out her parents’ restaurant. But when her fiancé, James Donato, vanishes in a boating accident, her well-baked future is swept out to sea. Instead of walking down the aisle on their wedding day, Aimee is at James’s funeral—a funeral that leaves her more unsettled than at peace.
As Aimee struggles to reconstruct her life, she delves deeper into James’s disappearance. What she uncovers is an ocean of secrets that make her question everything about the life they built together. And just below the surface is a truth that may set Aimee free…or shatter her forever.
So, Everything We Keep begins at James’ funeral, on what should have been Aimee’s wedding day and the book then follows the next year of her life as she tries to pick up the pieces and move on. She makes new friends, starts a new career, but she can’t seem to shake James, told through a series of flashbacks to her and James’ lives together and the present, we learn about his dysfunctional family and eventually that she was right to have questions about his disappearance.
Though this book has a few twists and turns and enough intriguing moments to keep you interested, there does seem to be a a lot of big subjects being thrown around in an almost flippant manner. One character is assumed to have disassociated fugue, yet there isn’t much gravity given to what comes across to me as being a big deal.
It’s much more of a character driven book than plot driven, with the story being second fiddle to Aimee and her supporting cast. Its a very long winded, winding story about Aimee trying to rebuild her life and get over James. There isn’t much drama, but sometimes, it’s nice to read something that meanders and lets you have time to process.
The second book picks up precisely where the first one left off, and this one follows more of Carlos’ story and ties up some loose ends involving various characters and mysteries from the first book it also features a lot of flash backs to fill in the blanks and we learn a lot more about what happened to James. I would leave the blurb here, but spoilers! This is a ‘true sequel’ you literally can’t read this without having read the first book.
This was told in much the same way and again dealt with large subjects without much gravity. Again this was character driven and they plodded along nicely. Everything We Left Behind alternates between Carlos and James, telling the whole story through flashbacks and present day. Like the first book, there is a lot of dramatic events unfolding without much actual drama or urgency.
If you’re a fan of soap operas, you’ll love these books. There are gripping stories, but some of the moments veer on the outlandish and wouldn’t be out of place in Eastenders. (Has the whole split personality thought I was dead but I’m not thing been done on there before? I think it has!) I think these two books would be perfect holiday companions, they’re the sort of thing you could lose yourself in whilst being sat by a pool or beach.
I would say that I would rather there were a bit of a cover redesign, they’re both fine covers, but they don’t match the story all that well, particularly the first one. The two girls aren’t even the same!
Everything We Keep and Everything We Left Behind Everything We Keep and Everything We Left Behind - Kerry Lonsdale. You might have noticed that pretty much everything I've been posting recently is reviews, that's because I've had a backlog of ARCS building up and I'm finally getting around to reading them all, so I figured as these two are part of the same series, I'd do them at the same time!
