“Everyone thought I had a great marriage. … I’d told no one that it had been waning recently. I’d barely admitted it to myself.”
Nina Thorne THOUGHT her life was going aces – a fantastic career as a professor, a loving daughter, and a doting husband – but she’s realizing that her house of cards is precariously stacked.
“My heart was hammering and my whole body was sweating. I needed a draught of fresh air … but I was frozen in place.”
Her husband is furtively chatting with AImee (a chatbot) and while Nina unpacks that concerning tidbit, Matt drops another bombshell. At 72 years old, he wants a biological child and not with her.
Reeling from the doubly whammy, Nina also receives an email (potentially) from her mother. The catch? Her mother passed away just a little while ago.
“I liked the idea of life continuing beyond death, but the stern librarian in my brain peered at me over half-glasses.”
With her marriage imploding, and her worldview rocking, Nina makes the only decision that makes sense…she runs. But is she running away from her husband or to her destiny?
“Energy buzzed through my blood, electrifying my limbs.”
Overall, I was rather pleased with this one! This is my first book by Kate Evans but now I’m thinking that I might have to pick up another!
Right from the get-go, Nina was a compelling main character to follow and made the story an interesting one to read. I liked the depth of character and the complexity of her situation.
It’s not just the fact that her husband wants a divorce after thirty years of marriage – it’s the fact that he wants a biological child, hiding his “relationship” with AImee, and becomes increasingly irate when demanding for Nina to sign the divorce papers.
I was curious how that was all going to play out – especially as the story went on and we delved into the further compounding complexities of gender expression, sexual orientation, and familial secrets.
That being said, without going into spoilers, I do feel like some of the things that were set up could have been pushed a bit more, that the ending felt a bit too neatly wrapped up and I could’ve used a few unraveled ends.
And sometimes it felt like the book’s tension lulled and relaxed a bit too much for my taste BUT all in all, this was a quite a good story!
With thanks to the author for sending me a free copy in exchange for an honest review
Miranda Reads 