Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: July 6, 2021
Source: Publisher
Summary:
From the Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author comes the first book in a trilogy about love, betrayal, and the secrets families keep.
Forced to choose between abortion or adoption, Olivia Carson’s younger sister, Lily, runs away from home. Sixteen and pregnant, she never returns. But she writes. Once a year, Lily mails a picture of her son, Josh, to Olivia until his thirteenth year. Then it’s Josh himself who arrives at Olivia’s house, alone, terrified, and in possession of a notarized declaration from Lily. It begins, “In the event I go missing…”
Josh has difficulty talking. He can’t read or write, but he’s a prolific artist, exhibiting skill beyond his age. His drawings are as detailed as they are horrific. Olivia soon realizes Josh’s artwork tells a story. There’s more to his arrival and to Lily’s untimely disappearance than it seems. Using the drawings as a road map, Olivia traces Josh’s path back to his mom. Each drawing sheds light on Lily’s past and reveals a darkness that forces Olivia to question everything she thought she knew about her family.
My thoughts:
This is the first book in Kerry Lonsdale’s latest series, No More. I’ve enjoyed her previous books, both stand-alones and series, and was excited to see what this latest one was all about.
I love family dramas and the messier the better. What we have here is a story involving three siblings who are torn apart by events from the past. The story is told moving back and forth in time and we see slowly peel back the layers to find out just what happened in the past to cause such a huge rift in this family that was once so close.
This is at times quite an emotional journey and I loved the watching the relationship between Olivia and Josh develop – being an aunt many times over, this just tugged at my heartstrings so hard. I felt that protective love and fierce willingness to want to do everything in one’s power to find out what had happened and make it all okay for him.
I loved the way this story introduced us to these siblings, answered some questions, yet left us with some things unresolved. This just makes me more eager for the next book in the series. How do you feel when things are left like that?
Audio thoughts:
This was such a great book to listen to, narrated by Susannah Jones, who is a new-to-me narrator. I thought she did a great job bringing this story to life. Her pacing was spot on and she managed to infuse just the right amount of tension and emotion to her voice as needed.
Books in this series:
- No More Words
- No More Lies – due out May 2022
