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A review by lmb1011
Can I Give My Stepkids Back? by Aurélie Tramier
3.0
I'd like to begin by thanking NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.
This book was surprisingly captivating. Which may come as a shock to anyone who was following my updates AS I read this book. I really struggled with it. In part because it is severely mismarketed.
THIS IS NOT A ROMCOM. If you are going into this story expecting something similar to the movie 'Raising Helen' where an aunt's life is thrown for a loop when she is suddenly in charge of her late-sisters kids and there are sad but wacky hijinks as they learn how to adapt and she falls in love and its all wonderful ... you will be sorely disappointed. They also are NOT her Stepkids, but her Niece and Nephew. and considering the French Title appears to be "paint the rain in color" I am confused why they veered so far on the translated title... it is confusing and doesn't do a good job of explaining what the story is truly about.
This a Family Drama told in dueling perspectives of Morgan, and her nephew Elliott. The narrative voices are distinct and while I originally felt like Elliott's voice was too young for the intended audience, in that, his chapters felt more like reading Middle Grade which isn't BAD but the tone shift was a bit jarring. I however quickly got over that and his perspective quickly became my favorite.
Morgan is dealing with a lot of trauma from her past which is slowly revealed to us throughout the novel while she is actively trying to be a good parent to her niece and nephew. She struggles with accidental favoritism because she has a better understanding of how to relate and help Lea than she does Elliott and she is in a constant state of war with her mother.
and while we are on the subject. Morgan's mom is actually awful. She is absolutely suffering from Narcissistic Personality Disorder and I truly dispised how she carried herself throughout the ENTIRE book.
I do think there is something lost here in the translation and that is just par for the course at times, there were a few times the language wasn't quite as natural but overall it doesn't detract from the story.
I will say, I do hope the Kindle Version of this book is formatted properly upon release as the copy I received from NetGalley had pretty bad formatting and made the book difficult to follow at times, and made for a poorer reading experience.
Overall this story is really good, the characters motivations make sense and feel authentic. Just know going in it is a much darker and emotion filled story, and not a happy love story for MOST of the book.
This book was surprisingly captivating. Which may come as a shock to anyone who was following my updates AS I read this book. I really struggled with it. In part because it is severely mismarketed.
THIS IS NOT A ROMCOM. If you are going into this story expecting something similar to the movie 'Raising Helen' where an aunt's life is thrown for a loop when she is suddenly in charge of her late-sisters kids and there are sad but wacky hijinks as they learn how to adapt and she falls in love and its all wonderful ... you will be sorely disappointed. They also are NOT her Stepkids, but her Niece and Nephew. and considering the French Title appears to be "paint the rain in color" I am confused why they veered so far on the translated title... it is confusing and doesn't do a good job of explaining what the story is truly about.
This a Family Drama told in dueling perspectives of Morgan, and her nephew Elliott. The narrative voices are distinct and while I originally felt like Elliott's voice was too young for the intended audience, in that, his chapters felt more like reading Middle Grade which isn't BAD but the tone shift was a bit jarring. I however quickly got over that and his perspective quickly became my favorite.
Morgan is dealing with a lot of trauma from her past which is slowly revealed to us throughout the novel while she is actively trying to be a good parent to her niece and nephew. She struggles with accidental favoritism because she has a better understanding of how to relate and help Lea than she does Elliott and she is in a constant state of war with her mother.
and while we are on the subject. Morgan's mom is actually awful. She is absolutely suffering from Narcissistic Personality Disorder and I truly dispised how she carried herself throughout the ENTIRE book.
Spoiler
her redemption arc actually had me seething. I dont know if something got lost in the translation but I never felt her apologies were real and it truly felt hollow to me. Family means a lot, but cutting toxic people out of your life IS OKAY.I do think there is something lost here in the translation and that is just par for the course at times, there were a few times the language wasn't quite as natural but overall it doesn't detract from the story.
I will say, I do hope the Kindle Version of this book is formatted properly upon release as the copy I received from NetGalley had pretty bad formatting and made the book difficult to follow at times, and made for a poorer reading experience.
Overall this story is really good, the characters motivations make sense and feel authentic. Just know going in it is a much darker and emotion filled story, and not a happy love story for MOST of the book.