Finally, a book that lives up to the hype. My first 5 stars of 2018! This book is freaking gorgeous and emotional and everything I wanted and more. I was a little nervous going into it because everyone seems to really love it and I really wanted to love it too - and I'm so happy to say I did. This is a gorgeously written, character driven story about families in Ohio. It's hard to explain what this book is about. It mainly revolves around this family - the Richardson's who rent out an apartment space to this woman named Mia and her teenage daughter Pearl. Mia and Pearl quickly get swept into the lives of the Richardson's and their four children. The story begins with a fire and Izzy (one of the Richardson's children) disappearing. Then, we get to see the events that led up to the fire. This story also deals with a very controversial law suit about the adoption of an Asian baby. There are so many layers to this story.

What I loved most about this story is how well-developed these characters feel. I feel like I know every single character in this book on a personal level. This author definitely takes her time introducing you to each and every character - and I loved that about it. Also, the things this book has to say about motherhood and families and secrets and art - it was all just so gorgeously written and said. It brings up some very thought-provoking statements like: "Maybe at birth everyone should be given to a family of another race to be raised. Maybe that would solve racism once and for all." And the argument of what truly makes a mother a mother: is it biology or is it love and care? The controversy of this adoption really got to me when I read it - so much that I had dreams about it when I was reading about it. It was tragic and heart-breaking to see the Mother of the child fighting for her rights, but it was also tragic to see this couple who had been wanting to adopt for so long have to worry about losing the child they've been raising for the last ten months. I could understand both sides and it was very difficult but so interesting to watch it all unfold.

"How did you weigh a mother's love against the cost of raising a child?"

I was so surprised by the depth and layers in this story! At the end, there was so much going on my heart was racing! This read like a true story because of how real the characters reactions felt to certain things. This story really pulls on the heart strings, and talks about the pull of motherhood so honestly. There's so much life in these characters and it's been a long time since I got so invested in a family's stories. I was very interested in Mia's back story and all that happened with her.

Mia's back story about being a surrogate was so interesting, and the way she changed her last name to Warren when her brother died ugh ): that was so crazy when Mrs. Richardson found out Pearl "had an abortion" and she didn't know it was her own daughter who had the abortion and used Pearl's name like UGH. I was a little bummed that we never got to see Mrs. Richardson find out the truth but oh well. I loved Mia's relationship with Izzy and how she took her in like a daughter because I was so annoyed at the way Mrs. Richardson and their family treated Izzy. Mia really understood Izzy in a way that nobody else did, and I thought their relationship was so sweet. Ugh that scene at the very end when Izzy lights the house on fire and runs away!!! I was dead. And then Elena realizes how terrible she's been to her and she's promising she'll look for her for the rest of her life... Damn. I couldn't believe when Bebe went and kidnapped her daughter and took her back to China!!!!!! Omg. That was crazy. It made me happy to see that the couple who was trying to adopt her applied to adopt another baby from China.

I could definitely see this book becoming a really successful mini-series or maybe a movie? The characters are just so captivating I think it would make a fantastic mini-series tv show!

Wow, just wow. I'm so relieved this book actually lived up to the hype. This is a must-read story centered on motherhood and family and mother/daughter relationships. This book is definitely a new all time favorite of mine.

Here's my full BOOK TALK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meH-MyrGvr0