Play Book Tag discussion

This book was both beautiful and devastating.

From the first chapter, I could tell that it was going to be a good read, but I hadn't realized how much I would end up loving it. tl;dr the book follows three alternate timelines about a family based on how a young mother chooses to name her newest son - does she name him Bear (a name proposed by her older daughter), Julian (a name she had liked), or Gordon (after her husband, a controlling and abusive man, who had demanded his son be named after him)? The choice changes life for every single person in the family as well as all the people around them in their lives.

This is a book about hope, resilience, and both the joy and fragility of life.

Bear/Julian/Gordon becomes a very different person in each of the three paths, as does his sister and even his mother. (view spoiler)[For example, in one timeline, their mother gets away from her husband and Bear grows up loved and confident. In another, their mother tries to get away and is murdered by their father, and Julian is raised by his mother's mother and grows up anxious and terrified to be like him. In a third, their mother stays with her husband, and Gordon grows up in the shadow of an abusive household and turns to alcohol to cope for a while. All of these timelines change how he is with his extended family, future spouses/lovers, and how he sees himself. (hide spoiler)] Yet, despite all of these differing stories, the same themes appear: Love, mistakes, tears and laughter, redemption, and the promise of looking ahead.

I really enjoyed not only these themes, but the exploration of how domestic abuse effects everyone in the family, the psychology of how the smallest circumstances change how people respond to trauma and adverse events, and the richness of each of the characters. Other than the dad who was a literal piece of shit, I loved every single character even when they were being a bit of a jerk (looking at you, Gordon Jr. even though it wasn't fully your fault). I was completely engrossed in their lives, and I needed to know what happened to all of them so badly that I finished the book in just one day.

Something that I really admired about the book were the three endings: They all ended so differently, but all three were hopeful. In one ending, there was a tragedy immediately prior. In one ending, there was a promise of things getting better, although no solid conclusions. And in one ending, there was the start of a new life for multiple characters. None of them were depressing, even the one with the tragedy. I cried quite a bit during the last section of the book, but it was as much happy tears at (view spoiler)[Julian and Gordon's character growth (hide spoiler)] as it was at (view spoiler)[Bear's sudden and unexpected death (hide spoiler)].

This is a book about people just living their lives in a crazy and sometimes unpredictable world that celebrates and affirms life, and these days, when things in the real world feel so hopeless and bleak at times, this book was sorely needed.