No More Words by Kerry Lonsdale
- Published on March 15, 2022
- Shalini
- in Book Posts, Book Reviews, Digital Reads Media, Digital Reads PR, Digital Reads Reviews, Fiction
Blurb
Forced to choose between abortion or adoption, Olivia Carson’s younger sister, Lily, runs away from home.
Sixteen and pregnant, she never returns.
But she writes.
Once a year, Lily mails a picture of her son, Josh, to Olivia until his thirteenth year.
Then it’s Josh himself who arrives at Olivia’s house, alone, terrified, and in possession of a notarized declaration from Lily.
It begins, “In the event I go missing…”
Josh has difficulty talking. He can’t read or write, but he’s a prolific artist, exhibiting skill beyond his age.
His drawings are as detailed as they are horrific. Olivia soon realizes Josh’s artwork tells a story.
There’s more to his arrival and to Lily’s untimely disappearance than it seems.
Using the drawings as a road map, Olivia traces Josh’s path back to his mom.
Each drawing sheds light on Lily’s past and reveals a darkness that forces Olivia to question everything she thought she knew about her family.
My Review
What was it all about
No More Words was a carefully detailed story of a struggling relationship between aunt and nephew in order to find his mother with family secrets and drama interspersed in between.
Olivia had to decipher all that Josh wanted to tell her by his drawings. Some of them were shocking truths.
How it made me feel
Some parts of the story were poignant as Josh struggled to express himself.
I would have liked to say that I liked all the characters but other than Josh and Olivia’s other half, Blaze, the rest were too closed off.
The secrets made me quite curious as every pages showed a different fact that each character believed it to be truth.
This unfortunately was not an emotional page-turner that I wanted it to be.
The Good
The author brought the story to light in an interesting manner. The effect of half-lies were well depicted. Josh’s character of being aphasic was well detailed. I could feel my empathy for the kid rising.
Written in the past and present, it had some unexpected twists which led to an explosive finale but leaving place for books 2 and 3.
The Bad
I didn’t like any of the characters, especially Olivia. I needed more of a backstory as to why she started being the doubting harry. She trusted no one, not even young Josh. She got very tiring after some time and grated on my nerves. Toward the end, she redeemed herself.
The book could have unfurled the relationship between aunt and nephew in a beautiful manner, but the writing was staccato at its best. Not something that I expected from this author.
Lots of plot holes or unanswered questions kept open for the next two books in the series, I was not sure what the intention was. But they left me feeling dissatisfied even when there was a happy ending.
The Conclusion
Overall, an okay read. Hoping the next books in the series are better.
Book Links
Book Details
Publication Date: 2021
I downloaded the digital version of the book from an online retail, and this is my journey down its pages, straight from the heart. STRICTLY HONEST and UNBIASED.
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