Review: 'The Reunion' by Amy Silver (2013)

They thought they'd be friends forever.
Jen, Andrew, Lilah, Natalie and Dan were inseparable at university, but in the seventeen years since they left they have hardly seen each other. Until Jen invites them all to stay at her house in the French Alps. The house where they once spent a golden summer before tragedy tore them apart.
When a snowstorm descends, they find themselves trapped and forced to confront their unresolved issues, frustrated passions and broken friendships. And as relationships shift and marriages flounder, the truth about what really happened years before is slowly revealed. And Jen realises that perhaps some wounds can never be healed...
Amy Silver’s novel ‘The Reunion’ has been on my to-read list ever since its release in September 2013. I hadn’t read anything by Amy Silver before (she has written books like ‘One Minute to Midnight’ and ‘All I Want for Christmas’), but I was immediately intrigued by the description of the story and the need to get my hands on a copy of the book only increased after hearing positive things from other readers and bloggers. Unexpectedly, I won a copy of ‘The Reunion’ through Twitter (thanks so much, Amy!) and a few weeks ago I finally decided to sit down and be introduced to Amy Silver’s work!
During their time at university Jen, Andrew, Lilah, Natalie, and Dan used to be the best of friends. They spent all their time together, enjoying their student years and sharing every moment with each other. Until one summer at the house of Jen’s family in the French Alps; that one summer that drastically changed every single one of their lives. Seventeen years later, Jen invites her old friends back to her family home in the hope of rekindling their friendship. Yet, when a snowstorm arrives and they find themselves stuck in the house, hidden memories and emotions are brought to the surface and slowly everything that happened during that fatal summer is revealed.
I’ve been staring at my screen for quite some time, trying but not being able to find the right words to do justice to this amazing book. I absolutely loved it and I already know it will most likely be one of my favourite reads of this year. At the centre of the novel there are five main characters: Jen, Natalie, Dan, Andrew and Lilah. Each of them has their own intriguing story, linked to the main plotline of the novel. Keywords such as family and friendship combined with hidden secrets and conflicting emotions are all at the core of the story, turning it into a captivating read I simply didn’t want to put down.  
Amy Silver has an enchanting way with words; the use of different points of view (each one just as fascinating as the other) and different time periods, both in the past and the present (bringing back both blissful and poignant memories), challenges the reader to collect the different pieces of the puzzle and bring it all together. I specifically loved the way personal letters and e-mails played a role in the book, showing a more personal and intimate side of the characters’ lives and relationships. ‘The Reunion’ is a brilliant, beautifully melancholic and captivatingly well-written novel with a story at its centre that will stay with you for a long time to come.   
Rating:

10/10

For more information about this book: Amazon UK / Amazon US / Goodreads

Top Ten Tuesday - 10 Books That Will Make You Cry

'Top Ten Tuesday' is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. Lately I've seen some other book bloggers being quite enthusiastic about this weekly meme, so I decided to join in with the fun and try it out myself as well!  

  Top Ten Books That Will Make You Cry   Today's Top Ten Tuesday all has to do with books that will make you cry whether you want to or not! I quite often get emotional while reading or watching films, not much is needed to set me off, if I'm completely honest! So, here's my personal top 10 of books that made me cry (and I applaud you if you managed to keep it dry while reading these)!  

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1) J.K. Rowling - The Harry Potter series The first book that immediately popped into my mind was the last part of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.' I don't think I've ever cried as much while reading a book as I did during this one. Undoubtedly my personal number 1 when it comes to this list!

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  2) Nicholas Sparks - 'A Walk to Remember' If I have to name one author who almost always manages to make me cry with his work it has to be Nicholas Sparks. I adore his love stories and he's one of my favourite authors of all time. 'A Walk to Remember' is one of my favourites and always makes me cry, even though I know exactly what will happen.

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3) David Nicholls - 'One Day' I don't want to give too much away, but I definitely did not see the end of this novel coming. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, but the ending turned it into an unforgetable story for me. I still have to see the film version with Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess, but am sure that will make me shed some years as well.

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4) Nicholas Sparks - 'The Notebook' Another Nicholas Sparks novel that deserves a place on this list is one of the most amazing love stories ever, 'The Notebook.' It's such a beautiful and touching novel and the film version starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams is brilliant as well. 


 

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5) Audrey Niffenegger - 'The Time Traveler's Wife' Another book of which I don't want to give too much away, but a definite tearjerker as well. The story is really original and I've never read anything quite like it before. One of those books that made a huge impact, including a good dose of tears!

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6) John Grogan - 'Marley and Me' This is one of a few instances in which I saw a film before I read the book. I usually prefer to read the actual novel before watching the film version of it, but in this case I at first didn't have a clue 'Marley and Me' was actually based on a book. Both the film and the book made my eyes watery; very emotional and full of love!
 

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7) Suzanne Collins - 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay' Once again I don't want to give away any spoilers, so I'm just going to say that I was completely blown away by what happened in the last part of Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games series. I think I was perhaps even more shocked than emotional at first, but a few tears definitely flowed.
 

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8) Cecelia Ahern - 'P.S. I Love You' Cecelia Ahern is one of my favourite female authors and 'P.S. I Love You' is one of my favourite chick lit reads that never fails to make me tear up over and over again. The story of a young woman dealing with the untimely death of her husband is wonderful and this is one of those books I recommend to everyone; a definite must-read.

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9) Nicholas Sparks - 'The Last Song' I had to include one more Nicholas Sparks novel in this list, because it's another book that has an incredible story at its core, a story that will stay with you and will make you hold on to your own loved ones just that little bit closer. 

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10) Louisa May Alcott - 'Little Women' And last but certainly not least, a true classic which I've loved since I was just a little girl: Louisa May Alcott's 'Little Women.' I think everyone who has read this book will know which scene I am referring to; it still manages to bring tears to my eyes every time I read it!            
 

Blog Tour: 'Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots' by Jessica Soffer (2014)

Today I am delighted to be a part of the blog tour for Jessica Soffer's new novel, 'Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots'!

Victoria, eighty and recently bereaved, is lonely and needs to find a way to reconnect with the world. When she starts teaching cooking classes she doesn't expect Lorca, a troubled teenager, to be her first pupil. Lorca is desperate to find a way into her mother's affections and as a last attempt decides to track down the recipe for her ideal meal, an obscure Middle Eastern dish called masgouf. 

 

As Lorca and Victoria form an unexpected bond over almond and pistachio cookies and baklava, they begin to suspect they are connected in more ways than just their love of food.

At the start of 2014 I was contacted with the question whether I’d be interested in reviewing ‘Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots’, the debut novel of new author Jessica Soffer. Even though I wasn’t too sure about the book at first, something in the blurb managed to hold my interest. The novel is compared to Joanne Harris’ ‘Chocolat’ and Julia Powell’s ‘Julie & Julia’, both books in which food takes on a central role and which I have definitely heard of but also have never picked up for a reason I’m not completely sure of, if I’m honest. So, I decided to give the book a chance, knowing that if I would enjoy this, there would also be some other books waiting for me to be picked up!
 

Lorca is a troubled teenage girl living in New York who is trying to find her way in life, but without the motherly love and family affection she so desperately longs for. In order to at least feel something, she has developed the habit of cutting and hurting herself, which is something she tries to hide from the world. At the other side of town, there’s Victoria, an eighty-year-old woman who has just lost her husband whom she loved dearly, and finds it difficult to find a way to go on with her life, all alone. Through a shared passion for food and cooking, Lorca and Victoria are brought together and it soon becomes clear that they might be connected by more than just food and that feeling of loneliness.

I didn’t quite know what to expect from this novel, but after reading the first chapter I was already captivated by Lorca, a teenage girl who desperately wants and needs some kind of bond with her mother or at least someone who is interested in what she has to say and feels. I immediately felt a certain fondness for Lorca and wanted her to be fine, to be loved. The other main character, an elderly woman named Victoria, is also described in such a powerful and poignant way that I couldn’t help but be intrigued. The link between these two characters is beautifully explored with the subject of food at its centre: Lorca discovers her mother’s favourite meal is an Iraqi dish called ‘masgouf’ and her search for the recipe brings her to Victoria, who used to own an Iraqi restaurant together with her husband. In this way, the book brings together several themes like a search for love and family, dealing with grief and loneliness, and a passion for food and culture.

The story is told from three different points of view: Lorca, Victoria, and a few passages from the mind of Joseph, Victoria’s husband. Even though I wasn’t as completely gripped by the storyline as I would perhaps have liked to be, the emotions and the characters are so strong and they managed to suck me in until I had read the last word on the last page. There were even a few twists and turns at the end of the book which I had not seen coming. ‘Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots’ is a captivatingly well-written and heartfelt debut novel with two characters at its core that will stay with me for quite some time to come, and I am curious to see what else Jessica Soffer has in store for us! 

Rating: 7,5/10

For more information about this book: Amazon UK / Amazon US / Goodreads