I was expecting a beautiful, heartbreakingly emotional tale. This felt wholly manufactured, rather than something that poured from one’s heart.The story reaches toward melodrama, sucking the life out of what should have been a deeply felt narrative.

That wasn’t my only issue, though. The characters felt synthetic. Yes, I know they are inventions of the author’s imagination, but they should have felt like they could be real people.

There was so much in this that made me cringe, as well: The unnecessary comments about Olivia’s body in the beginning, almost everything Jason had to say, the white savior vibe, and more.

This book really felt like it suffered from trying too hard to impersonate someone else while having no true identity of its own. It’s a great and highly original concept, but the poor exploration of that concept was insufferable.

I am immensely grateful to Harper Muse and NetGalley for my copy. All opinions are my own.

An emotional gut-punch of a women's fiction novel that explores every parent's worst nightmare in a sliding door style that alternates between two realities - one in which single working mom Kate's nine year old daughter Olivia drowns at the ocean while on a beach vacation and another where she doesn't.

The book is a beautiful mediation on grief and guilt over losing a child in a way that could have been prevented and the strength that's required to forgive yourself and move on afterwards. It's also a great look at love and friendship and figuring out what role people play in your life.

Perfect for book clubs and great on audio narrated by my forever fav Brittany Pressley. Highly recommended for fans of books like Karma Brown's Come away with me or The possibilities by Yael Goldstein-Love. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

CW: accidental death of a child from drowning