This family story set with a backdrop of the Cold War and the threat of atomic bombings was heart wrenching. This takes a very close look at what is important in family interactions and what things truly don’t matter in the grand scheme of life. The entirety of the book is told from 3 perspectives, mother -Nelly, father - Dean and son - Wilson, I found Wilson’s storyline to be most interesting and Nellys to be the most difficult to read as a mother of a young child myself. Dean grapples with what to do when you find your job to conflict with the morals you have -I found this subplot interesting. Overall I rate this 4.25 stars. The audio was also well done with multiple narrators for each perspective.

An enjoyable, quick read. Some books are exactly as long as they need to be, and this one found the perfect balance for the story being told. I got to know the characters enough to be moved by what they went through and, while I feel like there were some important things left up in the air by the ending, it didn't feel truncated or cut short.

I liked having two narrators for the adults, but I found it odd to have the same narrator for the child's sections. He did an excellent job with the voices but having a kid's POV come from a very grown man was a little jarring given how perfectly cast the parents were (that said, I probably would've been annoyed by a child narrator, so there's really no winning with that criticism...)

One of the disadvantages of reading as much as I do is that many books feel formulaic. Well, not this one. It's a fascinating reflection on life in the nuclear age and life in nuclear families. It would provide excellent discussion material for book groups, and the ending was amazing.


Review copy provided by publisher.