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A review by cornmaven
It Wasn't Always Like This by Joy Preble
4.0
If you had a chance to live FOREVER, would you take it? Would you come to regret it if you did?
Emma and Charlie’s parents own an alligator farm/museum at the turn of the 20th century, 1913ish. A stranger comes to town and claims he has found the Fountain of Youth, and all you need to do is drink a tea made from a plant that grows near the stream, and voila, you’re immortal.
So they drink. And eventually they see it works because 2 year old Simon stays 2. Then they become a target for an evangelical revival meeting type church, determined to kill them because they are now "abominations".
Emma and Charlie escape the attack, but must remain on the run for all time. They separate, and each tries to find the other over the decades. As Emma is pursued, girls that look like her are murdered.
This was a fascinating story about life, what it means to live, and the desire to live forever, stuck at 17. Wouldn’t we all want that? No sickness, no aging, all rainbows and unicorns. Maybe, maybe not. Preble moves back and forth between the present and the early 20th century as she tells the story of these two teens who love each other but cannot find each other, each believing at one point the other is dead. The endless need to move abruptly when questions are asked or rumors begin to fly is heartbreaking for these kids. It's really a life of loneliness, a FOREVER life of loneliness.
I loved the writing, which was at times very poetic. Loved the characters, including Pete Mondragon, the New Mexico detective who helps Emma search and who actually knows her story.
It’s a sign of a good book when you always want to get back to reading it, and this one did that for me.
Emma and Charlie’s parents own an alligator farm/museum at the turn of the 20th century, 1913ish. A stranger comes to town and claims he has found the Fountain of Youth, and all you need to do is drink a tea made from a plant that grows near the stream, and voila, you’re immortal.
So they drink. And eventually they see it works because 2 year old Simon stays 2. Then they become a target for an evangelical revival meeting type church, determined to kill them because they are now "abominations".
Emma and Charlie escape the attack, but must remain on the run for all time. They separate, and each tries to find the other over the decades. As Emma is pursued, girls that look like her are murdered.
This was a fascinating story about life, what it means to live, and the desire to live forever, stuck at 17. Wouldn’t we all want that? No sickness, no aging, all rainbows and unicorns. Maybe, maybe not. Preble moves back and forth between the present and the early 20th century as she tells the story of these two teens who love each other but cannot find each other, each believing at one point the other is dead. The endless need to move abruptly when questions are asked or rumors begin to fly is heartbreaking for these kids. It's really a life of loneliness, a FOREVER life of loneliness.
I loved the writing, which was at times very poetic. Loved the characters, including Pete Mondragon, the New Mexico detective who helps Emma search and who actually knows her story.
It’s a sign of a good book when you always want to get back to reading it, and this one did that for me.