Depending on where you are seeing this, you might be seeing my face for the first time since my Bookstagram was taken in March. I tend to read and review books no one knows about, with a dash of daily life. I haven’t reviewed a book since January, so I’m rusty. The book on the table — more like in my ears because I’m listening to it — is Destination Funeral by Paige Harbison. The opening lines hooked me because what do you mean your mother invites you to her own funeral after not speaking to you for years (or it feels like it)?
The siblings leave everything behind and go to the island where they used to live as kids to figure out what is really going on. Call me weird, but I cared less that she’s living in the childhood home with her sister and former friends; when she meets again, her childhood/teen-hood pets melt my heart. There’s magic in the air, and I mean that in more than one way. The book goes back and forth in time, which loses me as a reader a bit. However, that’s on me, and I won’t punish the book/audio for it.
Going back to her past was hard for Didion (the main character) because she still carried the pain years later. Towards the end, it’s bittersweet because Didion is in a better headspace about who she is and the new relationships she managed to rebuild. We also learn what caused the distance between her and her mother. I got the sense that some of it stemmed from misunderstandings, and she regrets that her mother is no longer there to talk with her about it. I wish I had the e-book because I would have highlighted some parts. I’m giving it 4 stars.
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