Author: Glendy Vanderah
Narrator: Lauren Ezzo
Playback: 9hrs 59m
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Genre: Fiction, Contemporary
First Published: March 1, 2019
Book Description: After the loss of her mother and her own battle with breast cancer, Joanna Teale returns to her graduate research on nesting birds in rural Illinois, determined to prove that her recent hardships have not broken her. She throws herself into her work from dusk to dawn, until her solitary routine is disrupted by the appearance of a mysterious child who shows up at her cabin barefoot and covered in bruises.
The girl calls herself Ursa, and she claims to have been sent from the stars to witness five miracles. With concerns about the child’s home situation, Jo reluctantly agrees to let her stay—just until she learns more about Ursa’s past.
Jo enlists the help of her reclusive neighbor, Gabriel Nash, to solve the mystery of the charming child. But the more time they spend together, the more questions they have. How does a young girl not only read but understand Shakespeare? Why do good things keep happening in her presence? And why aren’t Jo and Gabe checking the missing children’s website anymore?
Though the three have formed an incredible bond, they know difficult choices must be made. As the summer nears an end and Ursa gets closer to her fifth miracle, her dangerous past closes in. When it finally catches up to them, all of their painful secrets will be forced into the open, and their fates will be left to the stars.
Review:
This is a heart-wrenching story. It has everything I love: Found family, self-growth, and good representation, it includes grief, loss, and a slow-kindling romance. It left me feeling so emotional and heart-warmed. The story followed three individuals who were each trying to navigate life with the cards they were dealt. It was a poignant and truly amazing tale that left a lasting impression on me.
Quick character description:
Jo- is a bundle of grief. She has a very good reason to be dwelling on it. She's fighting it the best way she can, by pushing forward and ignoring everything other than her work. People around her are worried obviously but she is not allowing herself to feel it. Ignoring it until it disappears appears to be her motto.
Ursa is a scared little girl who just shows up in the middle of the forest one day. She's alone and seems to be ill-equipped to be walking the forest. She is a very bright girl and full of expectations. She insists that she comes from a planet in another galaxy in order to get to know humankind and life on Earth. Her one goal is to witness 5 miracles before she is able to go back to her planet.
Gabe is struggling with his own battle, He suffers from crippling depression and avoids people in every possible way. He meets Jo on his farm chicken egg stand. He lives a very lonely life on the edge of the woods on a farm with his mother as his only company. Family life is not exactly amicable. If I had to describe him in a single sentence he is a wounded, exhausted, broken but not tarnished kind of hero. His demons and insecurity do get in the way of Jo and him getting to know each other.
We have a few side characters that are not as explored. Jo's roommate and best friend - she is worried about her friend but is supportive of all of Jo's ideas. Even when she shows up with a girl with no family on toe. She tries to convince her to go to the police to report the kid. But when that does not happen she faces that with an incredible (by that I mean unrealistic) determination and decides to condone the decision to keep the child and juggle school and child care. The fact that she's doing a graduate degree doe snot mean she's very world smart, how did she think that was going to go once the authorities found out?
The research lead investigator and Jo's mentor was involved very little but the care he has for Jo was still fairly present.
We do see a bit of Gabe's family, his mother a frail sickly women, and his older sister- she is overbearing and unlikeable to a huge degree. They do not really handle Gabe's depression very well but then again Jo doesn't really do such a great job but at least they're all going to learn to do better.
This is meant to be a heartwarming story with found family, a nice romance of mutual trust between two people who have their own struggles, and yet they try their damn hardest to overcome it not entirely for their own sake but for those people around them. Also, we do see a lot of drama, so you're going to find yourself sucked into this page-turner book.
This was used for the challenge:
#30DaysWild 2023 - Nature Connectedness: Books that get you into nature or closer to nature, that help you feel good or function well.
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