Julie's Review: Pictures of You

Author: Emma Grey
Series: None
Publication Date:  November 12, 2024
Publisher: Zibby Books
Pages: 416
Obtained: Publisher
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 5/5
Bottom Line: When your brain protects you, how do you reconcile your life?
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab

Summary: When Evie Hudson wakes in an unfamiliar hospital room, she thinks she’s fresh out of a teenage party with her best friend, Bree. Except, Bree isn’t around anymore and high school was years ago. Evie had just survived the crash that killed her husband, Oliver―whom she can't remember either. After suffering a traumatic loss of memory, she’s left to connect the dots. But how? Enter: Drew, a promising photographer whose chance encounter with Evie unravels the elusive details of her marriage and her husband’s death. As Drew watches Evie stitch the story of her life together, secrets emerge that might shatter both of their worlds. This tangled second-chance romance leads Evie to question every decision she ever made. This time around, she’s seeing all the things she missed–and the life she gets to choose...again. ~amazon.com

Review: This book is magnificent in the story it tells and the way it is told. The way it works is way from the present back to high school when the story started for all of them. Except Evie can't remember it at the present time and all Drew can remember is their past. Evie doesn't understand why all the people she knew at 16 are no longer in her life; including her parents. The only thing she knows is that her husband Oliver is dead and she's not clue what happened and where to go. 

Drew doesn't quite know what to do when Evie reappears in his life except that he knows it complicates it. In fact, their reunion is going to throw both of them for a loop. As Evie begins to unravel her life, she wonders exactly how she got to where she is and if she can undo it. Has her accident given her a second chance?

I absolutely loved this book. It is filled with fear, heartache, hope and love. As the story unfolds it is not comfortable to hear about Evie's life. It is even more painful to see how distrustful those she loves are of her and how she doesn't understand why. The story of Evie's life is a painful one; as a reader you kind of see what's coming but the reveal happens to us as the same time Evie. 

I can't dive too deep or it'll give the book away and this is one you want to experience on your own. I will be circling back to her other novel The Last Love Note and can't wait to read whatever else she writes. 

Sunday Skim

Week of 11/3/2024:

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Sunday Skim

Week of 10/27/2024:

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A really good mix of novels and memoirs this last week. How does anyone NOT have a major crush on Stanley Tucci?! Seriously. November is a light month for galley reads for me, so I'm hoping to start catching up on some backlist novels and some other reads I've been eyeing. I will get to Martha Waters' latest this month but I had to at least wait until I was in November. 

Sunday Skim

Week of 10/20/2024:

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Review Quickies

The writing style of this novel isn't like anything I've read before but I'm not sure I know how to describe it other than it was told in almost a factual way instead of emotional. That's not to say that it's void of emotion but it's just not upfront. Lila is a force to be reckoned with from the time she was young until she retires from her job. She was ahead of her time in being honest about what she wanted out of motherhood and what she could handle. Thank goodness she found Joe and he was more than happy to be her partner. Together they raise a family but for one of their daughters, Grace, Lila choosing work always rubs her the wrong way. What she doesn't realize is that she's a lot like Lila. There's also a family mystery that Grace choses to investigate, which rounds out the story. 

I've been a fan of Alyson's novels for along time, so I knew I had to grab it when I saw it. This story is one of building a community and taking care of those around you. Grace and Tom are truly giving people. Grace in her kind way of helping Anh adjust to America and Tom the way he offers Jack a hand without asking for any explanation. There is so much more to this novel but I really don't want to ruin it. If you are intrigued about the time period after the Vietnam War, then you will want to read this book immediately. 

I knew this one would back an emotional punch because it's based on the author's diagnosis of brain cancer. It is a short novel but hones in on the idea that life is supposed to be lived. Sure we all have responsibilities but that doesn't mean to put off the things you want to do.  It navigates the unknown when Eve wakes up in the hospital to her slow recovery with her dedicated husband next to her. 

If you've been a fan of Sophie's over the years, than you won't want to miss this one. 

Sunday Skim

Week of 10/13/2024:

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All of the books I read this week were all very different but great. I really can't get any of the characters out of my head. I might go back to A Spell of Good Things because the audiobook was hard for me to follow. 

Sunday Skim

Week of 9/29/2024 & 10/3/2024:

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I really can't complain about my recent reads. The minute I heard that Ed Burns, YES that one, wrote a short novel loosely based on his childhood, I knew I had to read it. Well I listened to it because he narrated and it was really well done. For those who enjoy a little magical realism in their reads, well don't miss The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern and This Spells Love.