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Totality
Astrid and Henry, two babies born at totality during the 2017 solar eclipse in Madras, Oregon are blessed, and cursed, with empathetic powers. Navigating childhood, adolescence, and the young adult years, with all of the discovery, romance, and heartache life has to offer is amplified when you're an empath. To her own detriment Astrid heals those she is in closest physical contact with destined to never develop the deep bonds she yearns for. Henry is passed from family to family, holding people accountable for their true needs with his honest and easy temperament while never knowing what his own needs are. Unaware of the existence of each other and that their unique empath abilities work best when they're together, Astrid and Henry give themselves away to the wrong people again and again, until it's almost too late.
300 pages, Paperback
Published November 14, 2020
11 people want to read
About the author
Stacey Wallace
23 books26 followersStacey Wallace writes Contemporary Romance ranging from Sweet to Steamy, and Literary Fiction. She specializes in engaging stories that make her readers snort-laugh, ugly-cry, and fall in love with her characters.
Stacey lives in Beaverton, OR with her husband and their five children. Obviously, she drives a minivan.
Stacey lives in Beaverton, OR with her husband and their five children. Obviously, she drives a minivan.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 24, 2020
This was a really unusual story with a sorrowful bent. A magical realist Series of Unfortunate Events that encompass not just the two children at the heart of the story, but everyone around them.
Two babies are born at the moment of a total eclipse. Two very different families brought together in those first early moments in hospital. Two very different fates await them. Astrid's parents are fairly well grounded, living a relatively comfortable life while trying to figure out this whole being parent of a new baby thing. Henry's parents aren't so lucky; his mother struggling even to birth him and his father being an absentee drunk. As the two children grow, it's clear there's something unusual about them, even as their worlds shift, shatter, and fall apart because of it.
It's not the star-crossed lovers romance you think it's going to be (the cover definitely made me take notice, but also made me assume this was some kind of One Day sort of thing). In fact, a good chunk of the book is devoted to Astrid and Henry's parents/guardians.
Magical realism meets parenting fiction? You got it.
It was a different kind of read for me, as I'd expected it to be purely about the two kids falling into some kind of relationship. Instead the relationships are with friends and family, and encompass all the happiness and heartache that those real-world interactions can bring. Being quite a short novel it keeps things fairly light on description and detail, but the relationships are emotive and believable. There is romance, but it's just a tiny theme rather than the whole point of the story.
The paranormal aspect only becomes clear later on, although you could wonder if it also made all those coincidences around the two characters occur. I wasn't 100% sold on how offhand the reveal was (if you'd forgotten it was explained in the blurb, it just felt a tad dropped in - I'd have liked to have seen the parents/grandparents discussing what they'd realised about Astrid, maybe even seen her reaction to being told about her "gift"). But I loved how it was explored via the other characters, and the ending... Was also very unexpected. In a good way. I kind of wish it had been explained a bit more but it's no deal breaker.
From the breezy beginnings of contemporary parenthood to the coming-of-age tale of two unusual kids, this was one unexpectedly soulful story. A solid 3.5 star sort of read for me, but one that'd be great for anyone wanting a quick and unusual paranormal-type story that doesn't bog itself down in details or follow the usual paths.
Two babies are born at the moment of a total eclipse. Two very different families brought together in those first early moments in hospital. Two very different fates await them. Astrid's parents are fairly well grounded, living a relatively comfortable life while trying to figure out this whole being parent of a new baby thing. Henry's parents aren't so lucky; his mother struggling even to birth him and his father being an absentee drunk. As the two children grow, it's clear there's something unusual about them, even as their worlds shift, shatter, and fall apart because of it.
It's not the star-crossed lovers romance you think it's going to be (the cover definitely made me take notice, but also made me assume this was some kind of One Day sort of thing). In fact, a good chunk of the book is devoted to Astrid and Henry's parents/guardians.
Magical realism meets parenting fiction? You got it.
It was a different kind of read for me, as I'd expected it to be purely about the two kids falling into some kind of relationship. Instead the relationships are with friends and family, and encompass all the happiness and heartache that those real-world interactions can bring. Being quite a short novel it keeps things fairly light on description and detail, but the relationships are emotive and believable. There is romance, but it's just a tiny theme rather than the whole point of the story.
The paranormal aspect only becomes clear later on, although you could wonder if it also made all those coincidences around the two characters occur. I wasn't 100% sold on how offhand the reveal was (if you'd forgotten it was explained in the blurb, it just felt a tad dropped in - I'd have liked to have seen the parents/grandparents discussing what they'd realised about Astrid, maybe even seen her reaction to being told about her "gift"). But I loved how it was explored via the other characters, and the ending... Was also very unexpected. In a good way. I kind of wish it had been explained a bit more but it's no deal breaker.
From the breezy beginnings of contemporary parenthood to the coming-of-age tale of two unusual kids, this was one unexpectedly soulful story. A solid 3.5 star sort of read for me, but one that'd be great for anyone wanting a quick and unusual paranormal-type story that doesn't bog itself down in details or follow the usual paths.
December 30, 2022
I really liked this book ! It felt very different from what I usually read ! Very interesting ! I recommend it !
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews