I'm glad someone finally acknowledges who's the real enemy: people allergic to cats.

First and foremost, what a gorgeous cover. Luckily, the story lives up to the expectations.
In the context of modern America, in the mid-2010s, Cooper Franklin confesses to all his crimes in the last moments of his life. For the last decade or so, he's been working as a contract killer. Even so, he has lived an exemplary life as a husband and the father of two kids. This sudden change of heart creates ripples large enough to disrupt and intertwines the perfect lives of two suburban mothers with nothing in common.

At first, it was hard to get into this book because the characters' dialogues felt rigid and over-intellectualized. Also, for the first few chapters, Cindy and Tamara felt like the same indistinguishable voice. Once I got a hold of the author's peculiar (dark) sense of humor and the plot lines started to merge, the reading flow stormed forward.

What I loved the most was the feeling you get when reading a cathartic coming-of-age (but with adults). All the characters grow and learn new things about themselves and the people they love through disturbing events. Cooper's recount of his life had me giggling the whole time, which was out of place considering the traumatic lives of Cindy and Tamara. But in the end, there was an overarching theme of loss, family values, and fear of change that ran through all the plot lines.

I recommend not reading too much into the blurb before starting the book. I wager the reading experience is better if you let yourself be surprised.

Received an advanced E-ARC through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. Thanks!

I was very excited to read this one. As usual i went in blind and although I enjoyed it I found that the type of humor and the way it was written wasn't really my style.

Thank you NetGalley 💗👏

I think I went in expecting more humor and was met with more seriously dynamics. This was good, nothing amazing in my book though.

A heartwarming book, filled with quirky dynamic characters. I found the humour wasn’t really for me but this was a fun book with and interesting premise and characters you can root for. I liked seeing how things would unfold for everyone and the relationship arcs but I wasn’t blown away by the story I think I expected it to be a bit more fun/funnier. But I’m sure a lot of people will love this as the writing is great.

DNF - I was so excited that Washington had written another book. I remember having deeply enjoyed & appreciated the narrative of his first, just last year. Upon starting this book, I quickly realized I was not the target reader. I found it challenging to connect with the narrative of each & every one of the characters. Melinda & Tamara's voices sounded nearly identical, making it tricky to distinguish the story flow & the impact of events on a grand scale. I would like to highlight that this commentary should be taken with a grain of salt. The premise of this story is one I know many readers will enjoy.