The Things We Knew

The first four chapters of The Things We Knew are from the points of view of two people, Lynette and Nick. There's chemistry there, lots of it, fuelled by desperation, problems with their fathers, and old secrets. Just as I'm getting to know these two characters, enter Lynette's four older siblings, all with agendas and problems of their own . . . centre stage just got bigger!\\r\\n\\r\\nWhat follows is an absorbing and intriguing tale of a fractured family trying to cope with an immediate crisis and each other, while Lynette unravels a past mystery. \\r\\n\\r\\nCatherine West's novels are written from a Christian world view, but they are never religious, which earns a huge tick from me. Her stories are realistic, and her characters deal with the harsher things in life; in this case, repressed memories, alcohol and drug addiction, physical and emotional abuse, and Alzheimers disease. \\r\\n\\r\\nThere's a depth to this novel, a depth I wasn't expecting but thoroughly enjoyed. If you're a lover of stories that include romance, mystery and complicated family relationships, The Things We Knew is the perfect book for you. \\r\\n

Parts of the plot seemed contrived to me. \\r\\n\\r\\nThe was a secret which didn't get disclosed until almost the end. The reason this bothered me is it felt like Lynette had been keeping secrets from the reader because there were things she knew, things she'd done, that she (as the main viewpoint character) never let the reader see. I think it took away from the tension, because the secret was actually a major plot point. I would have liked to have followed that part of her personal character arc, but was deprived of that. \\r\\n\\r\\nOverall, this was a solid novel. I think it could have been excellent, but there were too many undisclosed secrets and that didn't work for me. \\r\\n\\r\\nThanks to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.