I loved this book. I think everyone should read it. Things discussed in the book really happen and opens your eyes what people go through at times.

Julia Geary is a Public Defender and a widow whose soldier husband died in Iraq. She’s also a single mother with a stressful job that demands much overtime and dealing with difficult clients. She lives with her mother-in-law Beverly whom one, if they were tactful, would call overbearing. In truth, she’s just plain obnoxious. It’s a day-to-day struggle for Julia who has no other option than to live in Beverly’s home and it pushes her stress level even higher.

At work, Julia is frustrated at being passed over for the big cases, but she finally gets one. In a town filled with animosity toward immigrants, members of the high school soccer team allege that a team mate assaulted a girl in the locker room. That team mate is an Iraqi refugee named Sami Mohammed and he becomes Julia’s new client.

Julia throws herself into the case with everything she’s got and soon, inevitably in a town where hatred of imigrants like Sami is rampant, she begins receiving death threats. Worse, Sami is now in a coma after he was viciously attacked.

Finally, evidence implicating a respected and prominent town resident is found which gives Julia hope will exonerate Sami.

One of the things I liked about the book is the author’s skill at creating interesting and multi-dimensional characters. Julia is a strong protagonist struggling on several fronts. If there’s one word to describe Julia is “survivor.” She’s also a courageous seeker of truth and justice for her client, no matter what the cost.

Another thing is that she clearly researched what being anPublic Defender entails so that Julia and her colleagues appear true to life

The only thing I didn’t like about the book was the author’s writing style, which is purely a matter of personal taste. Despite that, I gave the book five stars because it has a great plot and great characters

Set in the small town of Fish Creek, it centers on the alleged sexual assault on Ana by 18 year old Sami
Mohammed, an Iraqi refugee and the public defender defending him. Julia lost her husband in the Iraqi war and now she and her four year old son share a home with her mother-in-law. It leads to a tense and stressful life for all of them. Things become much more tense when Julia takes the case and is confronted by a town harboring a lot of prejudices and animosity. Sami is tried in the media and most of the town want him lock up and the key thrown away. Neither Sami nor Ana have anything to say but the powers that be in Fish Creek sure do and much of it becomes directed at Julia and her family.
I'm glad I took a chance on The Truth of it All as I usually read cozy mysteries and lighter fiction. From the start I was drawn into Julia's life and found her to be a well developed, engaging character. The story kept the tension throughout, keeping me wanting to read just one more page. That's the sign of a well crafted story.
My thanks to the publisher Crooked Lane and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Truth of it All is a standalone legal thriller by Gwen Florio, continuing with her feisty female protagonist books. Julia Geary is a broken and grieving public defender who is given an accused sexual assault case to represent. Different from the usual misdemeanour crimes she handles, this case causes personal angst and the ire of the town. Struggling with her own life, Julia is keen for it to be sorted quickly, but something is remiss and things get complicated. A well written and enjoyable expose of Middletown American with its ugly under currents. A realistic crime who dunnit with a three-and-a-half-star rating and promising portent for another adventure. With thanks to Crooked Lane Books and the author for an uncorrected proof copy for review purposes.

What really happened between Sami and Ana? Did anything at all happen? Julia Geary, a public defender and a recent widow living with her mother in law Beverly, finds herself stuck with a horrible case. Sami is an Muslim immigrant and he won't talk but everyone else does. And they start harassing Julia, who has already has it hard enough. There are some plot holes but the characters are compelling. I liked seeing the evolution of the relationship between Julia and Beverly, as well as the portrayal of crowd mentality and social media (frightening though it may be.). Floria has a way with the flawed heroine and while Julia doesn't have the usual troubles, she's got enough. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

Despite including some very familiar tropes, this book still held a few surprises and was refreshingly good. Julia Geary is a widow, a mother to four year old Calvin and a lawyer. She lives in a mutually awkward relationship with her mother-in-law and works as a public defender. She hasn’t dated anyone since her husband was killed in Iraq a few years ago and her life is currently depressingly boring. All that is about to change!

She is given the task of defending 18 year old Iraqi refugee Sami Mohammed on charges of….some sort of assault against student Ana Olsen in the girl’s changing rooms at the school gym. Neither the victim nor the alleged perpetrator are saying anything. The only way the assault is even known about is a that a group of boys (Sami’s soccer teammates) came forward at the urging of one of their mothers to say that one of them them saw Sami running out of the girl’s changing room. Something certainly happened - Ana has clear hand and finger shaped bruises on her arms but denies being raped, nor is there any evidence suggesting it.

This case though has set the small town of Fish Creek on edge. The internet is blowing up and sensationalising the story, soon Sami is a vicious rapist and abuser who should be strung up. Julia herself comes under attack for daring to defend the case, despite it being her job to do so. Her son gets expelled from preschool over it! The calls and emails trolling Julia are relentless. Sami’s family is also under siege. It is as if the town has lost its collective mind. I won’t say more about the plot but there are some interesting twists.

This story was very well written and the characters were complex and so very relatable. My heart was breaking for Sami and also Ana because of course things were not as they seemed. I loved the way Beverly, the mother-in-law, took the bull by the horns and very graciously defused a
lot of the tense situations. Beverley and Julia ended up, while not friends, with a lot more respect for one another at the end of the book.

I thought the depictions of the racial and misogynistic slurs were realistic and also very frightening. I can’t imagine how horrible it would be to be subjected to such vitriol. The small town setting was also pitched perfectly and, I think, only sharpened the antipathy as there was nowhere to hide. The story also illustrated the dangers of trial by media which is so common these days. I think it’s a timely reminder to not believe everything you see on line and to not be so quick to judge. All in all I really enjoyed the book. Thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for and advance copy of the book that I have reviewed voluntarily and honestly.

Wow! This novel is a tension-packed page-turner. Julia Geary is a low-paid public defendant whose husband, Michael, was killed in Iraq, leaving her and her four-year-old son living less-than-peacefully with Michael’s mother. Julia is assigned to defend an Iraqi refugee, Sami Mohammad, whose teammates claim was assaulting a girl in the girl’s locker room.

The town is already in a pitch of anti-refugee fervor, and Julia has to look past her own anger toward whichever Iraqi killed her husband to see the truth of this kid who has already been through a lot just to make it to America with his family. The powerful people in town, meaning white people who have money, seem to have everything going their way.

Julia has to battle against her own prejudices as well as against the people in town with more standing. This is a well-written book that will grip you from page one.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this novel, which RELEASES AUGUST 10, 2021.

I enjoyed reading this book. I liked the main character and the storyline and plot. The way the author wrote kept me turning the pages and interested in the story and outcome. I would definitely read more from this author.

Public defender Julia is living life without her husband, a soldier killed in Iraq, leaving her a single mother; at her low-paying job; and at her overbearing mother-in law, whose home she shares.
She longs for a breakout case, and it arrives when members of the high school soccer team report seeing a teammate--Iraqi refugee Sami Mohammed--assaulting a girl in the locker room.

This one was so good! I was hooked from the first page! I loved the characters written about! The plot was fantastic. An amazing awesome read!