When the Memory Keeper’s Daughter came out on film, I knew I wanted to read it before I watched it. I’m a book before the movie kind of girl. But that put a lot of pressure on the book. I saw the movie on from time to time and had to force myself not to watch it, but I saw the characters so when I read it, I had a picture of them in my mind.

One thing I learned from this book is that I need to read light books. This had its light points, but was serious. After I’ve been at work all day dealing with shootings, missing people etc I need something light and silly to get me through.

I liked this book because it hit close to home. My brother was born a few months early and has learning disabilities, but I can never imagine my parents giving him up. That thought it just crazy. I know this book happened a few decades earlier when this happened a lot, but it still blows my mind.

I really like that this book covered an entire life span. A lot of the books I’ve been reading lately cover a week or a few months. This covers from the time the kids were born until they were in their late 20s. It’s nice to get to see someone grow up and the people they become.

I also like how you went back and forth from Paul’s life to Phoebe’s life. You got to keep up with both of them although they were miles and miles apart. I know that is the point of the story, but I thought Kim Edwards did it well.

I’ve been reading a lot of stories from New Jersey and London, but it was nice to read one from Louisville. It’s nice to read about places that are near home and nice to read about rivers I’ve heard of and places I’ve been to.

One of the things I least liked about this book was all the secrets. Things like this paranoy me. Michael would never do something like give away our child (David) or be unfaithful (Norah), but this book kind of makes me lose faith in honesty. I can’t imagine living a whole life with these secrets.

There were positives about this book, but I think the negatives override and I only give this book 3 bookmarks. It was just so-so. ( )

Compelling. How do you make up for a lifetime of loss? This is the main question driving the characters in this book. ( )

This book had potential, but the execution was mired in tedious introspective garbage. A big disappointment. ( )

Great novel. I wanted more! ( )

The writing in this book was decent, sure, but the content was lacking. While there was great potential contained in the story, the “climax” was premature and, well, anti-climatic. Although we learn more about the characters throughout the book, there was no real progression or development of them. This book left me feeling dissappointed and slightly bored. ( )