Hello Everyone!
Overview (Non-Spoilery Section)
ARC provided through Netgalley and Random House in exchange for an honest review.
I first fell in love with this book because of the cover. I adore the font and the color scheme. I continued to like this book from that moment on. At first The Truth According to Us radiated the summery feel that I came to love from the Gone Away Lake duology. Then this novel sucked me in with an incredibly deep backstory that I was not expecting in the least. I also thoroughly enjoyed all of the historic elements that served as the basis for this story and the array of small town characters that you couldn’t help but love. I would highly recommend to anyone looking for a fun summer read that also has a lot of depth to it. However, I would also recommend that readers of this book be at least mature middle school and up due to language and intense content.
****Spoilers****
I love all of the characters!!! Willa reminded me of Scout from To Kill A Mockingbird with her love of reading and excitement to discover new things. Bird was such a character. When she was trying to impress Layla at the train station! Such a hoot! I want to be a part of the Romeyn family, specifically to spend time with the aunts. I keep thinking of them as much older than they actually were in the story, I think due to the southern sass that I have always attributed to my grandmother and her sisters, who have many of the same humorous characteristics. Mae, Minerva, and Jottie brought so much depth to the story and really made me laugh. The storyline with Jottie, Felix, and Vause caught me off guard. It was a much darker storyline than the rest of the book. Felix was so controlling of Jottie, which really made me annoyed at times but I could also understand why he wouldn’t want her with someone who “lied” about him. The story became a three part adventure with Layla and The History of Macedonia, uncovering the mystery of what happened at the American Everlasting Hosiery Company factory the night that Vause was killed, and what exactly Felix does for a living. Even though I really grew to dislike Felix as the book went on due to his shady endeavors, I feel like there was significant redemption in the end. I totally ship Layla and Emmett together and am satisfied to know that Layla will stay in Macedonia to write a book about the apple crop in the panhandle :) I did feel like there was a lot of book for this story to go on in. It did tend to get slower in the middle bits.
Overall:
90% of 100%
4 out of 5 stars
-Jaime