Review: Missing Pieces by Laura Pearson

Missing Pieces

by Laura Pearson

Publisher: Ipso Books

Pages: 277

Format: book

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  What if the one thing that kept you together was breaking you apart?

All Linda wants to do is sleep. She won’t look at her husband. She can’t stand her daughter. And she doesn’t want to have this baby. Having this baby means moving on, and she just wants to go back to before. Before their family was torn apart, before the blame was placed.

Alienated by their own guilt and struggling to cope, the Sadler family unravels. They grow up, grow apart, never talking about their terrible secret.

That is until Linda’s daughter finds out she’s pregnant. Before she brings another Sadler into the world, Bea needs to know what happened twenty-five years ago. What did they keep from her? What happened that couldn’t be fixed?

A devastating mistake, a lifetime of consequences. How can you repair something broken if pieces are missing?

Kritters Thoughts:  A story told in two parts and I didn't realize how much I was glad to make the jump to the second half to see how this story really evolved.  In the first half, we have a family that has endured a tragedy and are living not just day to day but moment to moment and at any second things could really fall apart.  The reader doesn't find out what truly happened until the second half, but you don't need to know the details to know that this family is falling apart.  The second half makes a huge time jump and you see the family and how each member has evolved and even how they are still stuck in things.

What a fantastic story and what a great way to tell it.  I was surprised by the time jump, but it was so worth it to make the story to feel full and complete.  I loved these characters and was hoping for their best from the very beginning, so it was satisfying to see them years later and see how their worlds were after many years had passed from the tragedy.  The way the reader finds out the details was genius and worked so well. 

I was excited to learn after reading it that this book was a debut.  I love finding a new author with their first work and it adds to the excitement to see what may come next.  I will be on the lookout for the next Laura Pearson, I hope it is another family drama with a lot of heart in the middle just like this one!  

Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Ipso Books.  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.