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In Search of Us Ava Dellaira Books

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In Search of Us Ava Dellaira Books

No sophomore slump here! I loved her first book, _Love Letters to the Dead_, and I may like this one even more. I read a lot, and I read for great writing and genuine human emotion. She manages both. This book made me cry more than once. Such great, real characters. Families here feel entirely real, and they have those serious conflicts families can have but in a true way. These are people who are not going to lose each other again. They are going to have to find ways to get along together. I was reminded of _East of Eden_ in that way. Family is hard, life is hard, but we manage. We have to. So do these characters. Nobody emerges perfected, but the love is there anyway. And the writing! Smooth without being simple. It made the book a fast read, like Doerr's _All the Light We Cannot See_. Plus, one of the best descriptions of Los Angeles I've seen, and I lived there for ten years. Just a marvelous book. Sign me up for the next!


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In Search of Us Ava Dellaira Books Reviews

Rating 4.5 Stars

I had wanted to read this book for many reasons. One, I really enjoyed Love Letters to the Dead. Two, I love multigenerational stories. Three, coming of age tales always work for me. Four, I never pass up a good romance. I am not quite sure what I was expecting from this book, but it delivered a total feelsplosion and was so beautifully tragic, I am kind of choked up right now just thinking about it.

•Pro I wasn't sure at first, but I grew to love the alternating timeline. Contrasting Angie and her mom at the same age was quite interesting.

•Pro The romance between Marilyn and James was so swoony and gooey. I just couldn't get enough of them. They had these aspirations and were working together to try and make their dreams come true, but they had to be make it happen together.

•Pro James' family was really special. They experienced a lot of heartbreak, but they worked hard to fill those cracks with love. They were extraordinary people, who opened their home and hearts to Marilyn, and gave her the affection she was yearning for.

•Pro Marilyn's grief ran so deep, and she carried it around with her for so many years. I ached for her, and was so happy that Angie went on this quest to find the girl in the picture.

•Pro Sam was sort of broody, but he blew me away with his honesty and deep adoration for Angie. I totally understood his need for self-preservation, but also admired his willingness to support Angie after the way things went down.

•Con I would have liked to have a gotten a little more resolution as it pertained to Angie. The ending was sweet, and I feel really good about where we left Marilyn, but I have quite a few questions about Angie.

•Pro The story is peppered with a great songs and all these amazing book quotes. I found myself wistfully revising the 90s, while pondering all these thoughts Dellaira shared with me.

•Pro Dellaira really made us wait to get the truth about Angie's dad. I kept concocting things in my mind. I had two theories, and it looked like my second one could be right, but then the truth was so much more devastating.

•Pro I have so many emotions. My heart actually hurts for what was lost, but I am comforted by the way things eventually played out.

Overall This was a an utterly exquisite experience for me. This book was fraught with emotion and meaning and so many wonderful characters to love. It tugged on my heartstrings, made me weep, but it also made me smile.
4.5 stars This is just one of those books that really fill your heart and makes you sad and smile and it's all happening at the same time you know. There’s a mystery and a love story at the base of this novel. They’ll meet in the proverbially perfect and heart-shattering middle.

The novel switches between Angie wanting to know more about her father and trying to find out if  he's dead or alive, and how it all started with her father and Marilyn, Angie's mother. I loved seeing the romance between Marilyn and James develop and how she was welcomed into his warm family. You know that they're not together any more and Marilyn still can't think of him without tearing up so I was prepared for something terrible to happen but when I came to that part of the novel the impact was still bigger than I anticipated. I knew it was coming, couldn't avoid it try as I might, and still was quite in shock.

Both plotlines, Angie's search in the present and Marilyn's encounter with James, at the same age but 17 years earlier, were very engrossing and it was actually fun and engrossing to read this dual timeline. Angie might have started out alone in her desire for answers but as the story progressed and the connection between Marilyn and James became bigger, we both ended up longing to know and even I hoped he was still alive.

But even if 16 year-old Angie had all my sympathy and understanding and I adored Dellaira's skilled writing that made her turn to her favorite songs whenever she felt the need in time of worries and trouble, I loved her mother Marilyn in her younger version most of all. She's such a good person and the attraction and romance with James was nothing other than perfect. They have such a sweet connection, I was already dreading the moment it would end. They seemed so right for each other so I couldn't wrap my head around it, until I actually read the words.

In Search Of Us was such a lovely novel with beautiful people (the only exception being Uncle Woody who grudgingly shares his house with Marilyn and her mother), lots of cool 90's music references  and a whole lot of love. This novel is going to steal your heart, just like it did mine -).
No sophomore slump here! I loved her first book, _Love Letters to the Dead_, and I may like this one even more. I read a lot, and I read for great writing and genuine human emotion. She manages both. This book made me cry more than once. Such great, real characters. Families here feel entirely real, and they have those serious conflicts families can have but in a true way. These are people who are not going to lose each other again. They are going to have to find ways to get along together. I was reminded of _East of Eden_ in that way. Family is hard, life is hard, but we manage. We have to. So do these characters. Nobody emerges perfected, but the love is there anyway. And the writing! Smooth without being simple. It made the book a fast read, like Doerr's _All the Light We Cannot See_. Plus, one of the best descriptions of Los Angeles I've seen, and I lived there for ten years. Just a marvelous book. Sign me up for the next!