The book has just enough suspenseful elements to bring together a plot essentially about the struggles of the Slater family: haunted by their past and possibly just literally haunted. We're told the story through multiple points of view, switching between three specific points in time (1989, 1955, and 2013) to tell three stories intertwined. I quite liked the mystery elements and characterization in the 80s and 50s, but I found the modern day portion comparably plainer.

I really loved McMahon's descriptions of characters: when you meet Amy of 1989 she feels vibrant, like someone you might have known in childhood. Each character leaves a unique impression with no two cut from the same mold. My only disappointment was that, in comparison, Lou felt much more like a one dimensional prop than a person; as our link to the Slater family in 2013, I would have loved to have seen a Lou that felt as strongly like a real person as her mother and grandmother did.