I thoroughly enjoyed my first book by author Ella Olsen. Emma is a young mother whose son died a year before from a rare, genetic disease. She's not really recovered from that tragedy, she and her husband are having relationship issues, and now a year later, her beloved grandfather dies. In trying to help clear up her grandpa's things, Ella comes across an old wedding photo that becomes a Pandora's box of sorts. It leads Ella to question things within her family's history and she begins to question her own path and choices in life. I always enjoy a story filled with family secrets and the unraveling of them and that's exactly what the author does so well here. The genealogical research and the tie in with the Mormon Church made me want to visit Salt Lake City and try to further the ancestry research I've started. Thank you to the author for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

Olsen brings her storytelling skills to bear here in this story of grief, forgiveness, and family secrets. Emma has had a horrible horrible few years, first during her child through Canavan's disease, the genetic illness that ultimately kills him and then losing her much loved grandfather. It's entirely understandable that she doesn't know what to do- whether to leave her husband, whether to stay in bed- but she discovers a photo that makes her question her family's history. She starts on the journey more to understand what happened to her than to understand her family but ultimately the two merge, The two stories weave together. Emma is a character you'll want to hug more than once. There's a lot of emotion in this nicely written novel and you'll find yourself wanting more (I know I did.). Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Grief stricken over the loss of young son (Joey) and beloved Grandpa (Joe), woman (Emma) uncovers family secrets while cleaning out Grandpa's home.

Emma and Noah's son, Joey, was born with a rare, degenerative disease called Canavan that damages the ability of nerve cells in the brain to send and receive messages. A year later, still reeling from the loss of her son, her beloved Grandpa also dies. Cleaning out his house, while difficult, also proves to be a good distraction for her, especially when she comes across a strange photo. Who is the mystery woman in the photo, and why does Emma look so much like her? As Emma begins to research her family's genealogy, secrets are revealed. What secrets was her grandpa keeping, and will discovering them help her grieve and move on?

While the secrets Emma discovers about her family history aren't all that shocking, especially given the location of the story (Utah), I was still moved by this young mother's grief over the loss of her son and was pulling for her to connect with Noah again. Noah desperately wants them to have another child, but will Emma be able to take the 1 in 4 chance of conceiving another child with Canavan disease? Read this heartbreaking, yet heartwarming, story to find out.

Lastly, this book crosses paths and characters with the author's previous novel, Root, Petal, Thorn.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

"You asked why a person would lie? I'll tell you. It's because you can't bear the weight of the enormous mess you've made, because you pray things will work out for the best, or they'll change given enough time. At first, it's avoidance of pain, but the truth drifts away, the distance between reality and the original lie are so far removed from one another, the situation can't be bridged with words. Soon, the lie is the truth. The lie dictates how things are in reality."

I've requested this book from Netgalley and Kensington Books at the beginning of this year when I went through a similar heartache as Emma. I hoped that this book would help me to deal with my own sorrow and pain. That it did. What a beautiful written book!

Emma's emotions and thoughts were captured very realistically. Her inner struggle and despair were heartfelt. She was a strong leading character, maybe a bit too strong as a couple of the other characters came across as part of a puppeteer show. Especially the "historical" characters. Loved the plot and story of her genealogical heritage and the way that Emma went about to uncover her family history had a strong ring of truth.

Although it kept my attention and I desperately wanted to uncover the truth alongside Emma, it just never became real. Alternating story-lines might have captured it. The truth about Emma's grandfather was a lovely and heartbreaking story and it ones again proofed just how strong a family can be.
"There are many things that connect one person to another. It could be shared history. Or biology. It could be blood. Or it could be love."
I haven't read the companion to Where the sweet bird sings, Root, Petal, Thorn, but I will try to get my hands on it. Although the two novels are not a sequel, I do believe it might be to the reader's advantage to read both of these.

Ella Joy Olsen has a beautiful writing style and there were a number of beautiful truths captured between the pages of Where the sweet bird sings. I will carry these words of comfort and providers of hope with me for a long time.

A big thank you to Netgalley and Kensington Books for the opportunity to read and review this novel and to Ella Joy Olsen for her lovely words.
"It's not what happened to you years ago, it's what you do from this point forward. The next step is more important than dwelling on past mistakes".

I could not connect with Emma at all, or this story.

WHERE THE SWEET BIRD SINGS by Ella Joy Olsen is a moving story of loss, recovery, and the importance of a family legacy. I enjoyed the writing and most of the characters. Women are daughters, wives, mothers, sisters, friends and this novel captures how all of those pieces together make us whole as long as we remember who we are as a person as well. As the daughter of a genealogist, I really enjoyed the parts of the books about the discovering the family line and the mysterious woman in the photograph.

I received an ARC of this novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

For me, the book read like a suspenseful mystery.

Various plot lines were interwoven into a richly told story. Life lessons were shown not told.

The author enables emotional involvement and heightened suspense without the reader feeling manipulated. The overly syrupy title could be a turnoff to prospective readers but the text feels real, even gritty at times. The first person narration invites the reader in to experiencing a very personal journey.

This lovely and touching story is told from the first-person point of view of Emma Hazelton, a young married woman living in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Hazeltons lost their infant son the year before from Canavan disease, which turned out to be a genetic disorder that both parents unwittingly carried in their DNA.

Now her husband Noah wants to move on with their lives, perhaps have another child, but Emma is still immobilized by her grief and sadness. And the odds of another baby being born with the same genetic disorder are high, 1 in 4. Can they risk that and possibly go through this same pain? Or is it time to release Noah to find love and have a family with another woman?

More grief comes to Emma and her family with the death of her beloved grandfather, Joseph Barlow. Emma and her mother face the daunting task of going through his papers in preparation to sell his home and perhaps this will take her mind off her troubles.

Emma finds the wedding picture of her great-grandparents but the year on the back seems wrong: her grandfather Joseph was born in 1913 but the notation on the back of the photo says 1916. And there's another woman off to the side who is holding a child, a woman who looks remarkably like Emma--who can she be?

Most of the rest of the story is an interesting quest into ancestry looking for answers. What better place to start than The Mormon Family History Library right there in Salt Lake City. Along the way Emma gains knowledge but also wisdom: "There are many things that connect one person to another. It could be shared history. Or biology. It could be blood. Or it could be love."

As I began reading, I didn't think this was my kind of story; I don't really care for suffering such deep pain and emotional grief vicariously. (Please God, let me learn my lessons through joy rather than sorrow.) But I hung in there and in the last half of the book, I found her search for answers in her family's past quite fascinating. If you've ever done any digging on Ancestry.com, you'll probably enjoy this book as well.

I'll definitely look forward to reading more from this author. Her characters seemed well-drawn and authentic. I also enjoyed revisiting Salt Lake City--such a beautiful city!

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for providing me with an arc of this book for an honest review.

Loved this book! I loved everything about it. That cover, the characters, and the story itself even though it is emotional and heartbreaking, it is so well-written that I could feel Emma's anguish and grief coming through the pages. Grief of losing her infant son from a rare genetic disease and then exactly one year later losing her beloved grandfather and discovering family secrets that leaves her confused and has her searching for answers about those secrets. She loves her husband Noah but can she stay with him? Can they risk having another child together and possibly losing that child to that same genetic disease? Having recently taken my own DNA test and researching (with my husband's help) my family history, I was fascinated with the DNA and family research part of the book. I cheered Emma on, hoping she'd find the answers she was looking while researching her grandfather's, and her, history, and hoping she and Noah would be able to work things out about their future together. This is such a beautiful story about loss, family and forgiveness. I consider it a must-read and should not be missed!!

Thank you to Ella Olsen, Kensington Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Ella Joy Olsen has created an absorbing novel, to which readers will relate, even if they have never lost a child themselves. Emma’s grief is real and vivid, and her quest to find out more about herself is universal.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first Ella Olsen book I've read and I was not disappointed. The overall theme (dealing with loss and discovering yourself) is pretty heavy so it's one of those books you need to be in the right date of mind to read. But once you start it it's hard to put it down. I found the book kept a nice pace and even though the theme was a bit morose Olsen does a good job of keeping that from consuming the entire novel. The one "negative" if I can call it that is that the main character makes some extremely frustrating choices in the book. At certain moments I had to put the book down because she made me a little angry.

This is a richly woven story of loss, grief and finding oneself among it all. This book is a perfect tapestry of how we all deal with grief differently. How we move on from the grief is different for each and every one of us. You don't get over loss, you get through it. Emma and Noah have lost their son from a rare genetic disease and it has left Emma lost. Losing a child has to be the worst thing in the world. My Mom would know, as she lost two children. I don't know if I would survive such a loss. The characters come to life off of the pages and I felt every emotion that they felt. The loss, the pain and the love. There were many layers to this story. Emma is searching her ancestry after losing her Grampa a year after her son. There are lies to contend with. It is a story rich with emotion. It is extremely well written and the flow is exceptional. I was engrossed in the story and the multi layers as it unfolded, were mesmerizing to me. This story will tug at your heartstrings and you may weep, I did. It is sad, while also uplifting. We can rise from the ashes of grief and loss. I highly recommend this book. I could simply go on and on about how great of a book this is. You must read this one.

There were so many elements to this book- intrigue, heartache, secrets, and family. I started this book on Sunday and have already finished before I head to bed tonight; I just couldn't put it down. I needed to know the secrets that tied Emma and the rest of her family together and what that would mean for her future as a mother and as a person. I needed to know where her story would end. As a mom, I felt a sort of kinship with her, even if I wouldn't of made some of the same decisions in my own life. We never know what the power of loss will do to us until we are forced into it. Where the Sweet Bird Sings is a voyeuristic look into someone's very personal loss, how their marriage is surviving, what grief can do to you, and what will come of everything that is brought to light.

*Trigger warning for parents of child loss.

Thank you to Kensington Publishing and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

Emma is lost. After the death of her beloved grandfather only a year after losing her only child, she can’t see her way forward. It is only through the process of digging up her family’s past that she finds the strength to move on. I particularly enjoyed how Ella Joy Olsen used Emma’s genetic research as a device to explore her family history and find healing.

Thanks to NetGalley for a providing me a review copy of the book.

Where the Sweet Bird Sings is a very well written novel. I enjoyed the plot, characters and the author's writing. The author is new to me and I look forward to reading more of her work.

Five women, five separate lives but all intertwined. And if the walls of the house could talk, what else would we learn about these women? I thoroughtl=ly recommend this book.

A story of history, heartache and reconciliation.
I so enjoyed this journey that Emma took us thru.
Searching her family history, enabled her to move forward with her life in the present and future. It aided in moving passed the sorrow of losing her son and made for a delightful storyline.
Wow!

This is an absolutely beautifully written story of love, loss, family, and finding yourself. Emma is one of those characters you want as your best friend. She is a relatable character you can't help but laugh, cry, love, and hate with throughout every page of the book. This is one of those reads where once you start it you do not want to put it down.
The story revolves around Emma and the struggle she faces as her husband Noah suggests they have another child. Having lost their first child to a rare genetic disease, Emma fears the worst thus is reluctant to want to have a baby.
As she searches for the truth behind the root cause of her late son's disease, she finds not only about her family and roots, but also herself. A great story for a night where you just want to curl up with a cup of tea and a warm blanket and settle in for a good read!

I've just finished Where The Sweet Bird Sings by Ella Joy Olsen. This was an okay book. I didn't hate it but I didn't love it. In this contemporary, we follow Emma, in first person narrative as she tries to unlock her families' past secrets and find out about who she is.

Where The Sweet Bird Sings releases on 29th August 2017.

Spoilers below...

Emma has just lost her grandfather. While at his funeral, she recounts loosing her son, Joey to a disease, when he was only a baby. She wants to find out where this disease started in her family and if it's her fault that he died, as she wants to try again for another healthy baby with her husband. What's to say they're second child wouldn't be affected the same way as Joey was? Emma and her husband need to work out the risk factor. Emma's brother and his wife also want to try for a baby. However, if he has the same DNA as Emma, will his child be affected too? Both he and Emma take a DNA test. It gets surprising results...Emma takes a long time to find the answers surrounding her family but do they help her in finding peace or do they just open up more questions surrounding her true DNA? You'll have to read to find out...

While I enjoyed a few aspects of Where The Sweet Bird Sings, most of it was a bit of a slog to read. The plot was very basic with no real surprises. I was honestly quite bored while reading, which isn't good. When I thought there was going to be a twist at one point, I was let down. I honestly skipped chunks of the text to make it go faster in places.

What did I like about Where The Sweet Bird Sings?
I liked our protagonist, Emma and how she had the guts to never give up on her search for answers.
I liked how this was a first person story. It made me feel closer to the story.

What didn't I like about Where The Sweet Bird Sings?
I didn't like the writing and how it seemed like it took forever to get through.
I didn't like how the plot was just solely based on looking for answers in the past. In a murder/mystery I'd expect that, but in a contemporary there should be more elements, I think.
I didn't like how the title didn't give any meaning to the plot. I thought Where The Sweet Bird Sings would have had a more romantic feel to it. But it didn't. It certainly didn't allude to the historical or the genetical turn that the story took.
The cover has no meaning to the story either.

The reasons above are why I'm giving Where The Sweet Bird Sings 2.5 Stars (3 on Goodreads). It wasn't terrible but it wasn't great either...

I would like to thank NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC of "Where the Sweet Bird Sings" by Ella Joy Olsen.
The genre of this book is General Fiction. It also has a touch of historical fiction. The author also talks about researching ones ancestors, genetics ,and DNA research, which I find intriguing and fascinating. The timeline described in this story is in the past and present.
Ella Joy Olsen describes her characters as complicated and complex.
Emma Hazelton and her husband Noah have lost their baby son to a rare genetic disease. Mourning and grieving have caused a strain on their marriage. Noah wants a biological child, but the statistics are not in their favor. Emma doesn't know if she can go through this again, and questions everything. Emma is also mourning the death of her beloved grandfather.
As Emma is clearing out her grandfather's house, she finds an old wedding picture of her grandfathers parents. She notices another woman in the picture that has a striking resemblance to Emma.
Emma's brother and girlfriend want to have a baby and decide to have genetic testing to see if they can avoid the illness that Emma's son died from. Emma also has additional DNA testing to see what might have caused this genetic illness from their ancestors.
While doing research, Emma becomes aware of family secrets through several generations. Her mother also seems to have some major secrets.
The author presents the topics of betrayal, family secrets, forgiveness, love and hope. I enjoyed this novel and would recommend it.