Tiny Americans

by Devin Murphy

From the National Bestselling author of The Boat Runner comes a poignant, luminous novel that follows one family over decades and across the world—perfect for fans of the film Boyhood.

Western New York, 1978: Jamie, Lewis, and Connor Thurber watch their parents’ destructive dance of loving, hating, and drinking. Terrance Thurber spends this year teaching his children about the natural world: they listen to the heartbeat of trees, track animal footprints, sleep under the star-filled sky. Despite these lessons, he doesn’t show them how to survive without him. And when these seasons of trying and failing to quit booze and be a better man are over, Terrance is gone.

Alone with their artist mother, Catrin, the Thurber children are left to grapple with the anger they feel for the one parent who deserted them and a growing resentment for the one who didn’t. As Catrin withdraws into her own world, Jamie throws herself into painting while her brothers smash out their rage in brutal, no-holds-barred football games with neighborhood kids. Once they can leave—Jamie for college, Lewis for the navy, and Connor for work—they don’t look back.

But Terrance does. Crossing the country, sobering up, and starting over has left him with razor-sharp regret. Terrance doesn’t know that Jamie, now an academic, inhabits an ever-shrinking circle of loneliness; that Lewis, a merchant marine, fears life on dry land; that Connor struggles to connect with the son he sees teetering on an all-too-familiar edge. He only knows that he has one last try to build a bridge, through the years, to his family.

Composed of a series of touchstone moments, Tiny Americans is a thrilling and bittersweet rendering of a family that, much like the tides, continues to come together and drift apart.

 

Genres: Fiction, Audiobook, Ebooks, Contemporary

243 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 12, 2019

About the author

Devin Murphy is the nationally bestselling author of The Boat Runner and Tiny Americans. His third book, Unbend the River, is due on in January of 2024. He is an Associate Professor at Bradley University and lives in Chicago with his wife their three kids.

Reviews

[Angela M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lost my rating so added back my stars , but actually read this in 2019 .

4.5 stars .
There’s a pervasive sadness from the beginning, many times depressing as these characters struggle to make sense of their lives after a traumatic childhood in a house filled with alcohol and arguments . Most of the story is set in Olean, NY, a small city in in upstate NY. It happens to be a two hour drive from where I live and I’ve been there several times, but I couldn’t say I knew the place. It wasn’t until I read this book that I really felt I was there. With prose as beautiful as in The Boat Runner, descriptive but not overly so, Murphy gives us an intimate view in these alternating narratives, of the Thurber family, a family whose lives are broken.

The story opens with Jamie, at 13, the eldest and I was immediately taken as she tells how their father takes her and her younger brothers, Conner and Lewis on nature adventures to experience the sound of a tree’s heartbeat, the beauty of flowers and birds and bugs. These times are juxtaposed against the times when they are forced to stay outside to avoid the alcohol laden arguments of their parents. Suddenly their father leaves and while their mother stays, she too abandons them to her drinking and her art. It’s an emotional read, as the narratives continue with years in between, alternating with her brothers and interspersed with a few other chapters focusing on Catrin, their mother, Terrence, their father and years later John, who is the injured vet that Jamie marries. They are all broken in some way, affected by this earlier time in their lives and through the years, it’s apparent how much their futures were impacted. Yet, in spite of this, each of the children realize they were loved, and I wondered throughout about the possibility of forgiveness.

This is not a very long book, so I’m hesitant to give plot details. It’s an interesting narrative structure with several years passing in between each chapter. I have to say that this made it somewhat difficult for me to sustain the feeling of connection with the characters since so much had happened in between and the reader is left to discover or surmise. Having said that, this is my kind of book. It’s quiet, introspective, and heartfelt. I have to give it 5 stars.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Harper Perennial through Edelweiss.

[Jennifer ~ TarHeelReader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tiny Americans is my favorite kind of story. A quiet family saga, one where we follow these people over decades witnessing each of them come of age in their own way. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

The story begins in 1978. The Thurber family lives in Western New York. Three children, one female, two males (Jamie, Lewis, and Connor), along with their parents, Catrin and Terrance. The parents’ marriage is dysfunctional, an all-too-often push-pull with a side of drinking.

There are moments of beauty where the father takes his children out into nature, listening to the heartbeat of trees, sleeping under the stars.

Eventually, Terrance leaves the family, though. As much as he tries, he can’t hold it together. The children’s resentment towards both parents grows over time. Years pass, and the children leave for their own respective futures, with plans to never look back on their broken apart family.

The children may not have looked back, but Terrance isn’t done with the family yet. He is sober now and full of apologies. Terrance doesn’t realize all the baggage and scars his adult children carry now.

Tiny Americans is a quiet portrait of a family that could be any family. It represents the ebb and flow of families, as they may come together for a purpose and slowly drift back apart.

Overall, I was absorbed in the story of the Thurbers. I wanted them to heal their rifts and forgive their pasts. Eventually I came to accept that this was their story, and the complexity that was their family’s life only added to the authenticity and even relatability. Devin Murphy, what story will you bring us next? I’ll be waiting!

I received a complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.

My reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com

[Canadian Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Out of a broken marriage come broken children. At least in this story.
Terrance, Jamie and Connor are crippled by the upbringing they had. Both parents alcoholics with their father leaving for self preservation but leaving these children with a broken mother who was too busy attending her art than parenting.
As these children become adults, their past follows them and their relationships are fractured with the emotional luggage they carry.
Tiny Americans carrying huge emotional lives.
The writing was beautiful. The ache painful.
Another wonderful story of emotional turmoil to healing to redemption and forgiveness.
4.5⭐️

[Lindsay L · Rating 4 out of 5]

4+ stars!

Children growing up in the 80’s. Parents who don’t know how to communicate. Siblings desperate for a sense of belonging and support. A family torn apart and drowning in the aftermath of the break.

This quiet but powerful story unfolds through the multiple perspectives of the Thurber family. A dark, deep, uncomfortable exploration of the ripple effects of a family breaking apart. Each perspective shares a powerful layer to this deeply aching family unit. Each character is searching for answers and each individual personal journey adds an integral layer of depth and detail to this highly emotional and heartbreaking story. So many words left unsaid. Emotions and longings tucked away and hidden. Questions unasked and trauma unacknowledged until it’s (almost?) too late.

This won’t be for everyone. It’s heavy, dark and depressing but also real, raw, gritty and connectable. It’s a deep look into a family in turmoil struggling with the ripple effects of their trauma for decades. Can a family that is so broken ever heal?

Audio rating: 4 stars! The narrators did an excellent job sharing this story. The narrator changes were perfect as each narrator captured the character brilliantly and made the novel even more impactful.

Thank you to the publisher for my digital review copy! Thank you to my lovely local library for the audio loan!

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flashes from a flawed family.

Four decades of memories and defining moments are rendered in a beautifully wrought and powerful narrative. This is a relatively short book that manages to say so much about this family’s dysfunction and misfortunes through their distinctive voices. However, I also felt rather disconnected from them. I can love or hate characters, but want to feel something. And with seemingly nothing to tether them to one another, their perspectives left me with more questions than answers.

I’m torn about this book. The writing is something to behold and I’m all for a deep dive into family drama, but there is also an unrelenting bleakness that made this difficult to read with too few insights and little of the redemption that would have made the journey more worthwhile for me. I didn’t enjoy reading, but neither am I sorry I did. I know that doesn’t make any sense, but I’m okay with challenging reads as long as the writing impresses.

Thank you to Reading Group Choices for this ARC.

[Becca Sheade · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book pulled all the heart stings. The writing is gritty and real and earnestly likened to a combo of Earnest Hemingway and John Irving. MMQ, Harper Perrennial and Murphy did a GORGEOUS job with this novel.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

"People shift from one place to another too fast, coming and going from everywhere. The whole country seemed to offer up people made to feel small by one thing or another. Sun. Space. Each other. Tiny Americans everywhere. Drifting and drifting."

This wonderfully written book is about family - dysfunctional but still family. It's about love and forgiveness and finding yourself in the world. It is told in vignettes by each of the three children in the family over a 40 year time period. The author doesn't explain every little nuance over what is going on in their lives but gives hints and lets the reader use their imagination to fill in the blanks.

The Thurber family is made up of Terrance and Caitrin and their three children, Jamie, Lewis and Connor. As the parents' drinking escalates, the children began to pull away from their parents to live their own lives even though they still deeply love their parents and hope for a better life. One day, their father just leaves to move out West. As their anger toward their father and their distrust toward their mother grows, all three children head off into different lives. Jamie goes to college and gets married, Lewis joins the Navy and Connor goes to work, gets married and has a son. Even though they try not to look back, their tumultuous childhood has greatly affected the way they live their adult lives. Will these three grown children be able to become a family again dispite the upheavals of their childhood years?

This is a beautifully written book with fantastic characters. As the three children struggle to become adults, their struggles were very real and painful. I laughed with them and cried with them and felt their pain and insecurities. I loved the way the book was written and I know that this is a family in literature that I won't soon forget.

Thanks to librarything for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.

[Alena · Rating 5 out of 5]

“He wanted to tell her there was no promise the world will catch you as often as it lets you fall.”

That sums up the premise of this outstanding, gut-punching, heart-wrenching novel about growing up broken and finding some sort of peace in that brokenness. Covering 40 years in the Thurber Family, each chapter is told from one family member’s perspective at a specific year. Sometimes the chapters jump by 10 years, sometimes by 1. Each is written so brilliantly that it could stand alone as a rich and moving short story, but they hold together chronologically and reference each other to develop a full-bodied, complex novel.

This is an emotionally tough read. The Thurber parents are alcoholics, neglectful and borderline abusive parents so the early years had my heart in my throat for their young children. What follows is the long, difficult legacy left by that upbringing - for both the individuals and the family as a whole.

What elevates a really good story of down and out Americans coming of age to a 5-star winner is the heart and vulnerability invested in every person telling this story. I came to love the Thurbers individually and rooted for them to find their way(s).

Murphy balances the graphic details of his characters often violent lives with such restrained longing ... "So much to make peace with in one lifetime." ... I could not put this book down and read it in a single sitting.

[Katy O. · Rating 4 out of 5]

(free review copy) My husband and I both ADORED Murphy's last book, the WWII novel "The Boat Runner", and I was floored by how expertly he managed to switch gears and write something completely different but equally excellent. "Tiny Americans" is a modern family story told in vignettes from different viewpoints over the course of decades. It is quiet, at times incredibly sad, and so touching. If you know too well how fractured families can be and how tiny moments of connection can mean the world, this book is for you. I believe that yet again, this one will be a hit for both me and my husband - no easy feat!

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

In TINY AMERICANS, Devin Murphy skillfully weaves a series of vivid, unflinching vignettes into a complex portrait of a family struggling with alcoholism, abandonment, and anger. Each snapshot is an astute character study, exposing the desires and vulnerabilities of the family members as they fall apart from one another and forge new lives. Epic in scope, TINY AMERICANS is a poignant examination of the ties that bind a family, and how enduring those ties may be.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ll admit: it took me a bit to get into this book, but when I finally caught the rhythm of the story and the prose, I was hooked.

The Thurber family is nothing if not dysfunctional. The father, Terrance, struggles with his alcoholism, wanting to get sober, but stuck in a disastrous marriage with Catrin, his alcoholic wife. Their three children Jamie, Lewis and Connor are witnesses to their destructive behavior and are scarred by it. Eventually, Terrance leaves to save himself, leaving his children behind. As the story moves along, jumping over years in their lives, exploring how each person handles their brokenness, you learn how they survive their pasts, some more successfully than others.

Everyone in this story has demons and it is how they each deal with their demons that defines them. Your heart breaks for each character. For a while I was just going along for the ride, not quite getting the cohesiveness of the story. Then came the last chapter, and the last page of the last chapter. And I had my tear filled “aha moment.” Well played, Devin Murphy!

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I mentioned in my previous update, this book reminded me of the television show This is Us. It is hard to describe what I mean by stating that but it was so vivid in language. If you are familiar with the show, you know about the characters and the storyline. I am not going to spoil any content about it,but the overall feeling of this book had the same kind of plot. Back to the book, this book had really good characterization and it would love to see this book turn into a film. In fact I hardly ever say this but I wished that this was a movie then turned into a book. I can easily picture the actors to play the characters,also I can envision how the movie is to look.

I thought this book had really good characterization, great writing style and I was very sympathetic to the characters. However, my main criticism with this book was the fact that it read like a tangent. It was almost there were no breaks in between outside the characters. It would have been better if it was divided into parts but this book kept progressing without giving me a chance to understand what was happening.

Nevertheless, the rich characterization and consistency saved the rating. I also love the dysfunction in the family, it painted a beautiful picture of how not every familiar is ideal.

I do plan to read more books by Murphy, very luring writing style.

[Paltia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Abandonment, alcoholism and mental illness all figure in to this poignant story of the broken Thurber family. The children all at sea in boats without rudders, as one would expect, can’t find their way. The parents have receded into the distance, behind them. They each must find their own future and many is the hour they find themselves lost. As each turns to look they might see a sibling, a tiny figure stumbling about in the howling wind, blinded by dust, mad with confusion and yet unable to give in. A story of what life can be like when orphaned way too soon.

[Vicki Carbone · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I the began this novel, I assumed that the Tiny Americans of the title were the Thurber children, the chief protagonists and narrators of the tale. It soon became clear that the story of the Thurbers, as children, was the mere tip of the iceberg. It is not until I had nearly reached the end of the novel that Devin Murphy pushed me to my epiphany. "The whole country," he writes, "seemed to offer up people made to feel small by one thing or another. Sun. Space. Each other. Tiny Americans everywhere. Drifting and drifting." With those words Murphy sums up what, to me, are his most important themes and why this novel is so very important and deserves to be read by every thoughtful reader. The novel's resolution is especially moving as we see these very flawed characters, who desperately love each other and, despairing of that love, simultaneously pull towards each other and push each other away, come together, choosing love.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Devin Murphy is the author of The Boat Runner which I really like. I’m really not sure how I feel about this book. The Thurber family is close to being dysfunctional. The three young children love their parents but because of alcoholism and abandonment they eventually feel resentment and anger. Told over a period of 40 years in little snippets of their life they try to move on and not look back. Not easy to do. The author tells the story leaving blanks for the reader to fill in. The story focuses on reget and forgiveness and understanding the complexities of family. This book wasn’t for me but might be for you.

[Caryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Devin Murphy is in a category all on his own as a writer. His prose is magnetic and he did something with this novel that is very difficult. He left gaps in the characters’ lives to allow the readers to fill in the blanks. And he executed that well enough that we could. This is a story of a family, torn apart by choices, and how each went their own way and how they ended up. It has a feel of The Immortalists, which was a 2018 standout for me. And this story proves how versatile Murphy is as a writer because it’s completely different than his debut, The Boat Runner. This one is a full-on character study. My thanks to the author for the review copy.

[Kim Gausepohl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is it possible for a book to be too beautifully written? It’s almost like when everything is poignant themes start to fall flat. Appreciated the repeating blue imagery and the depth of characters.

[Judi · Rating 4 out of 5]

My book club received 10 copies of this book from Reading Group Choices. This is my honest review of "Tiny Americans".

I guess all families are somewhere on the dysfunctional spectrum but this one is closer to the extreme than most - I hope! Terrence and Catrin's 3 children survive the tumult of the marriage fractured by alcoholism and mental illness. For one memorable summer, Terrence attempts to purge his demons by teaching his kids about nature and share what he learned as a kid. But it's too little too late and he abandons Catrin and the kids to go west. Essentially orphans, each child copes by taking insane risks but they cope.

The story follows each of the kids as they become adults and reveals how the events of their childhood impact them as adults and parents. It's raw and feels real and messy yet you're always rooting for the kids to succeed - or at least survive.

Murphy's concise storytelling, honing in on touchstone events in each character's life, allows for decades of family drama to be told in less than 250 pages. Each word carries the weight of so much more leaving the reader with a deeper experience than some stories twice its size. With beautiful literary moments dispersed within the grit of life, Tiny Americans will stick with you for a good long time.

[Charlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Murphy weaves together powerful episodes in the lives of the Thurber family. The space between chapters where loose threads are left to our imagination speaks as much as the events that shape these three characters. It is an honest, sometimes brutal, and often touching book. Each chapter is self-contained and compelling. Cumulatively, the book captures the most vulnerable moments of the Thurbers' lives. They fumble and scatter when their family collapses and then are faced, as we all are, with questions of forgiveness and reconciliation. I admire the books open form, the way in which Murphy lets these discrete moments have their own place without over-explaining or smothering them with tidy conclusions. Events happen in our life, and they echo. The episodic form invites us to wonder about what forms these character and ourselves. Well worth the read, and so different from The Boat Runner, which is also a great read.

[John Benson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book along with Benedict Wells' THE END OF LONELINESS and which it shares many similarities. In both books, families are pulled apart by tragedies that effect the lives of the three siblings in both places and these last long into adulthood. In Wells' book, the arc of the years holds together as a coherent whole, while in this book, the adult years of the different siblings and the father who abandoned them are brought out as widely spaced short stories. The short stories are exquisitely told and bring out the lives of the individual lives at that point in time, but there seems to be little connection with other family members. I felt like the book worked well as a collection of superb short stories, but didn't really work as a novel.

[Lyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not worth your time and effort!

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boom!

That ending. Blew me away.

Much of Tiny Americans, the sophomore project by Murphy, was so depressing. In fact, that's a gross understatement. I struggled to read it in spots.

But the ending was filled with so much hope. No doubt about it, Murphy can write like nobody's business. 5/5 stars

[Joseph Whitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

For many years, I took my family life for granted. I presumed that everyone had a mom and a dad; that everyone spent holidays - or Saturdays - at their grandparents house and being doted on by many affectionate and playful aunts and uncles. I never once thought my parents would leave us or each other and they provided for all my needs and many of my wants. My experiences of less than ideal family members is uncommonly small. It was only in high school and later that I realized how fortunate I was and how unprepared I am to deal with serious family conflicts - a vulnerability I hope is never challenged. The family within Tiny Americans is nothing like my own. But as singular as I view my family, it seems the Thurber's also had their own brand of myopia.

I've often heard that divorce affects the kids the hardest. While I've never experienced the hurt, confusion, and other emotions from a parental splitup, it's that very sense of unfamiliarity that helps me imagine the traumatic effects it could reek on children. Murphy takes the reader into this world by describing the lives of the Thurbin family up to and after the divorce. We experience the turbulence of their life, seemingly created by the turbulence of their childhood.

And this is what I reject from the novel. Not all kids from broken homes end up broken. Similarly, not all kids from "whole" homes end up living the dream, so to speak. To say anything different is just ignorant.

Perhaps Murphy wasn't attempting this. Throughout the book, I contemplated what the title meant. Then, out of nowhere, in the penultimate chapter, Murphy writes:
"People shift from one place to another too fast, coming and going from everywhere. The whole country seemed to offer up people made to feel small by one thing or another. Sun. Space. Each other. Tiny Americans everywhere. Drifting and drifting."
All of a sudden, the book is less about the Thurbin's and more about American and the way Americans live. Alas, this titular excerpt also doesn't jive well with me. Families don't -shouldn't- shift from one place to another. Terrance left his family. He couldn't handle his wife's drinking nor the craziness of early fatherhood. The children, all in their own way, held on to the anger, hurt, fear, etc. of the separation instead of taking on their own lives and owning it.

On the other hand, maybe that excerpt just doesn't describe me and that's why it doesn't sit well. Perhaps Murphy is merely suggesting that the pace of life in this country, its intricate interconnectivity, its easy access to everywhere, alienates some people while others seem to thrive. And Tiny Americans is Murphy's attempt to highlight that struggle.

As it stands, for me it is a melancholy book, filled with sadness and regret. And it's with sadness that I found there to be little hope within the story. Even the final scene is both unfinished and underwhelming. It's as if the culmination of Terrances own emotional filicide is his own redemption. The reality, is that the lives of the characters are troubled and be speckled with avoidable tragedies, both children and parents. It is a condemnation of American society and one I feel doesn't characterize American life accurately or precisely. I believe that in America, people have choices and that their consequences, good and ill, are theirs to own - at least that's what I like to think. If Murphy had added hope to the story, I think I would have like it quite a bit. But it seems almost purposefully excluded and, strangely, reserved only for that whom deserves it the least. The kids really are most effected.

[Katherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointed. Disjointed and no clear theme. Hard to feel anything for the characters as we really don’t get to know them. The story is told through a series of short vignettes of each of the children and their dad. One of the children barely gets any chapters. Boring

[Kim McGee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three kids try to figure out their world and survive the toxic relationship between their alcoholic parents in upstate New York. Their dad tries to share some knowledge of nature before he gives up and leaves the family for good. Surprisingly, the three siblings grow up to be somewhat normal. One runs off to join the Navy, one goes onto college and into teaching, the last one gets a job, gets married and raises a family. Each of the kids continues to deal with the aftermath of dad leaving them, their mom's inability to cope and the idea of permanence. Terrance, their father, after moving to remote Montana, gets his act together and waits for the day when all the family can be together once more and he can make amends. This had me wondering how much of the novel is based on the author's own life story. Poignant and written with great heart, perhaps we should call this book, "Tiny Broken Americans" broken but nothing that a little family understanding can't glue back together. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

[Pammy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another new author to me, though I have had his The Boat Runner recommended. I know this about Mr Murphy: he can certainly "do" disfunctional family! My word! These folks need help! The novel follows one family from 1978 through 2018. One of the many sad comminalities is how the short comings carry one through the decades and the generations.

Terrance & Catrin are the parents. The Thurber children are Jamie, Lewis and Conner. Take your pick. Each family member is as troubled and apparently broken as the next. One hardly knows who will or even might come out ahead in the end.

Toward the conclusion, we find Lewis biking across the country toward a family reunion, long in the making. At one point, he has an epiphany of sorts. "It becomes clear to Lewis that every hidden corner of the country is too complex to really be understood. People shift from one place to another too fast, coming and going from everywhere. The whole country seems to offer up people made to feel small by one thing or another. Sun. Space. Each other. Tiny Americans everywhere. Drifting and drifting."

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went up from a 3.5 because of the gorgeous writing. Sometimes I had to stop and reread because the words were so striking. This was a great book about a family broken apart and each person making their way. It was sad and real but I was unable to connect with the characters.

Here are a couple of my favorite quotes:

"That field and those games became our collective fallout shelter to hide from our home lives. We each tried our best to silently smash our worries away, leaving them turned up in clumps of mud we scarred the grass with. And though nothing was ever so clear, our mere presence day after day was our unspoken attempt at saving one another."

"All they really had was a trust that they'd be there for each other, and she had draped that trust over herself like a plaster cast until it was the only thing holding her up."

[Reading Fool · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an Advance Reader's Copy of this book.

This is a beautiful, heartbreaking, and ultimately uplifting novel about the Thurber family: parents Terrance and Catrin, and their children Jamie, Lewis, and Connor. The story opens in 1978, when Terrance takes his young children hiking in the woods of western New York state to teach them to appreciate nature. Terrance eventually leaves his family to move out west, and this book is an account of how this abandonment affects each Thurber family member through the years. It is a story of mental illness, addiction, guilt, and anger, told through the eyes of each Thurber. It is also about survival and redemption. Luminous, insightful writing. I was deeply touched by this book.

[Stan Skrabut · Rating 4 out of 5]

>Within the front matter of the book, it states, “This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real.” For an author to write a book like Tiny Americans , one has to tap into the essence of real people. Devin Murphy captured the qualities of a dysfunctional family extremely well. He could have been writing about people I know. I am not sure what I think of the book. Read more

[Himel Rahman · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a whole, it's not a great book. But it has some wonderful moments in it. There were moments when I would read a paragraph or line and look up and just stare blankly and think. Moments where I felt an indescribable sadness and longing. It beautifully captured the complexity of life in general; how we change over time, and how the paths we choose shape us gradually into something that we have never imagined; how things fall into pieces in retrospection.
The more you try to avoid becoming like your parents, you somehow end up in that same cycle of broken hearts, broken family.
This book got me thinking a lot. I don't like feeling sad nowadays.