Jaclyn’s Review: When We Believed in Mermaids by Barbara O’Neal

When We Believed in Mermaids
written by Barbara O’Neal
published by Lake Union Publishing, 2019

find it here: (affiliate links) Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Target, Book Depository, Goodreads

Did I enjoy this book? The wonderful thing about e-readers is that sometimes I will download a book and completely forget about it. Then, when I am listless and can’t figure out what to read next, I get a glimpse of what my past self thought I would enjoy. This is one of those books! I have no idea if it was an Amazon monthly book, something in Kindle Unlimited, or something completely different, but I was lost and found this book, and I’m so glad that I did!

This is a beautifully written story about sisters with a traumatic past and a chance at redemption. The story alternates between the two different points of view, and there are a few scattered flashbacks as well. This book has everything–beautiful scenery, love, loss, drama, and family. It’s wonderfully written and worth every minute. I’m so glad I stumbled upon this book.

Would I recommend it? Absolutely! This story has its fair share of trauma and sadness, but it also has family and redemption and love and so much more. I couldn’t put this book down, and I know others will feel the same.
 

 

About the book – from Goodreads: From the author of The Art of Inheriting Secrets comes an emotional new tale of two sisters, an ocean of lies, and a search for the truth.

Her sister has been dead for fifteen years when she sees her on the TV news…

Josie Bianci was killed years ago on a train during a terrorist attack. Gone forever. It’s what her sister, Kit, an ER doctor in Santa Cruz, has always believed. Yet all it takes is a few heart-wrenching seconds to upend Kit’s world. Live coverage of a club fire in Auckland has captured the image of a woman stumbling through the smoke and debris. Her resemblance to Josie is unbelievable. And unmistakable. With it comes a flood of emotions—grief, loss, and anger—that Kit finally has a chance to put to rest: by finding the sister who’s been living a lie.

After arriving in New Zealand, Kit begins her journey with the memories of the past: of days spent on the beach with Josie. Of a lost teenage boy who’d become part of their family. And of a trauma that has haunted Kit and Josie their entire lives.

Now, if two sisters are to reunite, it can only be by unearthing long-buried secrets and facing a devastating truth that has kept them apart far too long. To regain their relationship, they may have to lose everything.

 

 
 

* This post contains affiliate links.

** This post first appeared on Every Free Chance Books (everyfreechance.com) on March 15, 2021.