WOW. This book destroyed me. Joining Leigh on her journey has been emotionally exhilirating and exhausting at times. It wore me down (in a GOOD way, mind you) because it felt so real.
After her mother’s unexpected suicide, Leigh struggles with the reality of her grief – she sees her mother as a bird, and travels to Taiwan to meet her mother’s parents – her Taiwanese grandparents – for the first time. While she was alive, her mother refused to even speak about her family in Taiwan, so this is a new experience for her. Despite the language barrier, the trip helps her uncover family secrets and realize that her mother’s life wasn’t exactly as she imagined it.
I loved Leigh. She’s fiesty and passionate, and she’s a wonderful artist. I could practically see her art because the descriptions were so vivid, and I wanted to be able to see the world through her eyes. She’s clearly in love with her best friend, and I’m a sucker for best friends falling in love. It’s a well-developed romance, and the flashbacks really allow us to see their relationship develop. Because of that, even though Axel isn’t in the present story very much, he still plays a strong role in the story and feels very well-developed.
Truly, the story isn’t just about Leigh – it’s also as much, if not more so, about her mother and her mother’s family. Their family history is woven throughout the present-day story and Dory and Caro are both vivid protagonists in their stories.
This multi-generational epic is absolutely beautiful. The prose is stunning, and the characters feel entirely real. I laughed, I cried, and I could not stop reeling after it was over. I would highly recommend it to anyone struggling with grief, or really just anyone because it is perfect and wonderful and should be read immediately.
Rating: 5/5 starsΒ