Review: House of Wonder by Sarah Healy

House of Wonder
by Sarah Healy

Publisher: NAL Trade

Pages: 352

Format: ARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Amazon:  When we were little and I needed Warren, I would rub my earlobe.  And perhaps it was the alchemy of childhood, a magic that happened because I believed it could, but I swear it worked. He always came.

Theirs wasn’t always the misfit family in the neighborhood. Jenna Parsons’s childhood was one of block parties and barbecues, where her mother, a former beauty queen, continued her reign and her twin brother, Warren, was viewed as just another oddball kid. But as her mother’s shopaholic habits intensified, and her brother’s behavior became viewed as more strange than quirky, Jenna sought to distance herself from them. She is devoted to her career and her four-year-old daughter, Rose. But now, in his peculiar way, Warren summons her back to 62 Royal Court.

What she finds there—a house in disrepair, a neighborhood on tenterhooks over a rash of petty thefts, and evidence of past traumas her mother has kept hidden—will challenge Jenna as never before. But as she stands by her family, she also begins to find beauty in unexpected places, strength in unlikely people, and a future she couldn’t have imagined. 

Kritters Thoughts:  A set of twins that were born on the same day, but from that day forward have led very different lives.  Jenna is a single mom trying to raise her daughter while also building her own business with her best friend.  Her twin Warren has never left their mother or the safety of their family home and could maybe be on the autism spectrum.  Jenna returns to her family home a few times and realizes that the neighborhood has changed and her family may not be so welcome with all of their quirks!

I love reading about twins, both when they are so similar and in this case when they are so different.  They still had their ways of communicating with each other that no one else would understand and I love how Jenna sees Warren as a brother and doesn't see any disabilities that he may have.  I absolutely enjoyed the ups and downs of the neighborhood, being a new home owner it was fun to hear about how neighborhoods must change as generations move in and out.  

This was one fantastic family novel with perfectly dramatic characters that played off each other so well.  If you are wary of family dramas, I would still pick this one up, the drama was realistic and not over the top - nowhere near soap opera level!


Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Penguin Random House.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.