Never judge a book by its cover. We all know the idiom well. However, I am afraid, that on this occasion I did judge the book by its cover. A beautiful and interesting image and a title that really appealed to me: The Book of Someday. How much possibility lay in that title, yet how disappointed I was with just about everything else.

There are three narrators in this story. First there is Livvi; an introverted writer who comes from an abusive background. Next, Micah; a world famous and renowned photographer who finds out she has breast cancer, and finally, AnnaLee, a Long Island housewife who is slowly selling off family heirlooms to help support her family because her husband can’t hold down a job.

I have read reviews describing The Book of Someday as ‘intriguing’ and ‘fascinating’, but I felt it was predictable and rather unoriginal. The mystery of the story is supposed to be that there is a connection between these women. However, I figured it out rather early on in the book. The only reason I kept reading (and the only reason this has an extra star) is not that I wanted to find out WHAT happened, but to find out HOW it happened.

Livvi drove me nuts with her neediness (and I realise she was damaged and abandoned, but so were a lot of great characters in literature.) She also develops an unhealthy obsession with basically the first child she meets.

The saga felt rather overdone and melodramatic. It could fit right in with Days of Our Lives. Dixon’s methods of concealing ‘the truth’ also grew a little tiresome as the story progressed SPOILER! (was nobody known by their birth name in 1986?)

There was nothing particularly clever about the writing either. There was no turn of phrase that took my breath away. Nothing I wanted to add as a quote. When I read a novel I want the author to wow me; to make me see and experience the world they created, to love or loathe the characters, but Dixon left me feeling indifferent.

I am sure some people will really like this book. Just like some people (a lot in fact) like Danielle Steel. And there is nothing wrong with that. It just wasn’t for me.
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ZERO stars

Livvi refuses to use her given name of Olivia because it brings back memories of a terrible childhood. She is a novelist and living in the guest house of a Pasadena mansion. Micah is a wealthy and famous photographer living in Boston. She’s convinced she must atone for the terrible things she did in her past. AnnaLee is a Long Island housewife and mother, married to a man who is brilliant but lacks the motivation to succeed, and as a result she is slowly selling off her family heirlooms to keep them solvent. The three women are connected by one image – a woman in a silvery gown, her lips bright red, and pearl-buttoned shoes on her feet.

Okay, there’s a nugget of a story here, but the execution is terrible. The writing is amateurish at best. The characters are one-dimensional and do not behave in believable ways. The dialogue is ridiculous. When I wasn’t rolling my eyes I was swearing aloud. The plot is a mess. Livvi’s story is oddly reminiscent of the plot of Jane Eyre … miserable childhood, told she’s unlovable and wicked, gets her education on her own and meets a wealthy if mysterious man with his own secret. I had figured out the “big secret” connecting the three women by page 100, but had over 200 pages to go before the characters caught up. And then the book just ends … no resolution, big decisions yet to be made. I have no problem with ambiguous endings, in fact, I usually like them, but I got the feeling that Dixon just ran out of steam and couldn’t figure out how to get the characters out of this mess, so she just stopped writing.

I finished the book only because I received it from the publisher in exchange for an impartial review. I'm definitely not keeping it, but I hesitate to donate it to the library, it's that bad.
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The book goes back and forth between three women's lives and slowly I put together what the connections were and then had the connections confirmed in the last few chapters. The mystery is interesting but I had a lot of trouble connecting with the characters The ending is ambiguous and right now that feels unsatisfying. For now I feel like I don't like it although once the story settles I may feel differently. ( )

The book goes back and forth between three women's lives and slowly I put together what the connections were and then had the connections confirmed in the last few chapters. The mystery is interesting but I had a lot of trouble connecting with the characters The ending is ambiguous and right now that feels unsatisfying. For now I feel like I don't like it although once the story settles I may feel differently. ( )

The book goes back and forth between three women's lives and slowly I put together what the connections were and then had the connections confirmed in the last few chapters. The mystery is interesting but I had a lot of trouble connecting with the characters The ending is ambiguous and right now that feels unsatisfying. For now I feel like I don't like it although once the story settles I may feel differently. ( )