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A review by jenbsbooks
A Heart Like Home by Christine Nolfi
3.75
I'd read "The Passing Storm" by this author and liked this. Very similar feel here. Included in Kindle Unlimited with text and audio ... narrator was Megan Tusing and she sounded familiar, she's been the narrator for a few I've listened to.
3rd person/Past tense ... two POVs, little Bella and Nova. In the audiobook, the chapters have the POV noted (which is appreciated and helpful. They didn't alternate evenly, there was a lot more Nova in the book). In the Kindle copy, Bella's chapters were also in italics, and her "voice" was definitely younger.
This wasn't completely contemporary -not "historical" either (we're not calling the 80s "history" yet are we?) I don't know that the time was super essential, perhaps a little in that pre-internet/Google, it probably would have been easier to "hide" a foster parent, keeping that information private. Bella's original chapter gives that year as 1982 and it moves chronologically from there (no big time jumps). That it's the 80s it brought out when one of the characters talks about "buying one of those IBM personal computers" and no cell phones, landline with cords.
Issues here with the foster parent trying to protect and win over abused children, the children acting out, the challenge of giving foster kids love without becoming too attached (in both directions). There were some other issues at play here too. While it was a bit of a reveal, it had also been set up, so I had guessed the "twist" fairly early on.
Words - six smirks and a couple scowls. Cacophony (not one I was tracking until someone else mentioned it, and it IS in a lot of books!). Riffled ... both with the double l, but I'm fairly certain that it was pronounced riffled once, and rifled once (even though it was spelled the same). Not sure if I have the energy to double check that ;)
Content - No proFanity, no sexual stuff that I remember. Quite clean.
While I liked this, I'm not sure how much will stick in my memory.
There were discussion questions at the end in the Kindle version - I appreciated that.
41 chapters.
Quote "Children, like adults, deserved to keep their secrets until they were ready to share them."
There was also a mention of marigolds "“Every flower is beautiful in its own way. Some are very special. Take the lowly marigold. It’s not the most glamorous flower, but lots of bugs don’t like the smell, so they stay away. It’s a big help to other plants, keeping them free of pests." I had sewn seeds and had shared many marigold plants this year, and had just posted a picture on FB when I came across the mention. I like little connections like that.
3rd person/Past tense ... two POVs, little Bella and Nova. In the audiobook, the chapters have the POV noted (which is appreciated and helpful. They didn't alternate evenly, there was a lot more Nova in the book). In the Kindle copy, Bella's chapters were also in italics, and her "voice" was definitely younger.
This wasn't completely contemporary -not "historical" either (we're not calling the 80s "history" yet are we?) I don't know that the time was super essential, perhaps a little in that pre-internet/Google, it probably would have been easier to "hide" a foster parent, keeping that information private. Bella's original chapter gives that year as 1982 and it moves chronologically from there (no big time jumps). That it's the 80s it brought out when one of the characters talks about "buying one of those IBM personal computers" and no cell phones, landline with cords.
Issues here with the foster parent trying to protect and win over abused children, the children acting out, the challenge of giving foster kids love without becoming too attached (in both directions). There were some other issues at play here too. While it was a bit of a reveal, it had also been set up, so I had guessed the "twist" fairly early on.
Words - six smirks and a couple scowls. Cacophony (not one I was tracking until someone else mentioned it, and it IS in a lot of books!). Riffled ... both with the double l, but I'm fairly certain that it was pronounced riffled once, and rifled once (even though it was spelled the same). Not sure if I have the energy to double check that ;)
Content - No proFanity, no sexual stuff that I remember. Quite clean.
While I liked this, I'm not sure how much will stick in my memory.
There were discussion questions at the end in the Kindle version - I appreciated that.
41 chapters.
Quote "Children, like adults, deserved to keep their secrets until they were ready to share them."
There was also a mention of marigolds "“Every flower is beautiful in its own way. Some are very special. Take the lowly marigold. It’s not the most glamorous flower, but lots of bugs don’t like the smell, so they stay away. It’s a big help to other plants, keeping them free of pests." I had sewn seeds and had shared many marigold plants this year, and had just posted a picture on FB when I came across the mention. I like little connections like that.