Play Book Tag discussion

Jojo is 13-years old and lives with his mom, grandparents, and little sister, Kayla. His father, Michael, is in jail. When Michael is let out of jail, Jojo’s mom, Leonie, takes the kids (and her best friend, who also has a boyfriend in the same jail) to go pick him up. Leonie and Michael are an interracial couple and his parents didn’t approve, so they aren’t quite sure where they’ll go. Leonie isn’t a very good mom.

The story is told, mostly between Jojo’s and Leonie’s points of view. There is a 3rd POV, Richie, who I didn’t include in the summary. I could have done without Richie and his story altogether, really. Could have done without the ghosts and magical realism, in general. I didn’t like Leonie or Michael, but I did like Jojo and Kayla, and Pop, their grandfather. There was some back and forth in time, especially at the start of the book. Overall, I’m giving this 3 stars, ok. I did like the dysfunctional family storyline, and would have preferred the book stick to that part of the story.

Sorry you didn’t love it more Cin. It was the first book I read in 2018, and one of the best. What’s next for you?

Like Anita, magical realism is just not my "thing". I hemmed and hawed over reading it a while back, but then it was chosen for one of my book clubs, so that's what decided it for me.

I also finished (today! I hadn't realized it was so short!) Love Story. Not sure if I'll have more time to read before bed after I finish up here, but next will be Broken Promise by Linwood Barclay, so mystery/thriller/suspense, so some genre fiction. I love Barclay, so I do expect to enjoy this one!

This book has flip flipped on and off my TBR. I'm also not really a fan of magical realism, so your thoughts have solidified my decision to skip this one. Thanks, Cindy!

Joi wrote: "This book has flip flipped on and off my TBR. I'm also not really a fan of magical realism, so your thoughts have solidified my decision to skip this one. Thanks, Cindy!"

I think Anita has read it, as well (also not a magical realism fan). I'm going to go see what she rated it... Just an fyi that she rated it higher than I did - 4 stars.

It made my top 10 last year, but I can certainly understand how it can be a hit or miss.

I really enjoyed this book, particularly the relationships among siblings and grandparents. The author often includes grandparents in her books, and other characters that protect others and treat them like their own (like the boy in prison).

[I think the grandparent-as-parent theme will become even more popular in fiction as the opiod epidemic continues to kill so many parents of young children.]

The paranormal element was a small portion of the book, and I like the way it was handled. To me, the ghost characters were a manifestation of regret, memories and guilt. It was kind of crazy but I found the ending to be very emotionally powerful.

Good review. I don't think I realized this was magical realism. I need to check this out.