Julee Balko

I really enjoyed this book a lot. I was emotionally attached to the characters. The dynamics that Olivia and Patricia shared really did draw me in. Patricia may not have been as caring, but she did the best she knew how to communicate. I loved seeing Olivia coming out of her shell.

In a way, Patricia and Olivia helped each other. Especially with Olivia's past relationship with her mother. Patricia may have seemed like she had it all, but it was sad when you peeled back the layers and saw that she really had no friends.

The idea of a "Me" list is a fun idea. How often do we get busy in our routines and put everyone else in our families first. So, the idea of creating a "Me" list is great as it allows us to get to put ourselves first and do fun things.… (plus d'informations)

I want to start by saying that I really liked the idea of this book. I mean it's a really cool concept to make this list of things you attend to accomplish for the year. I think the author does an amazing job of portraying Olivia as a pretty realistic stay at home mom. I mean she's relatable for sure with the struggle of her daughter starting school and not knowing what she is supposed to do to fill that time. Olivia ends up being offered a job by her neighbor who she doesn't really like, but sees it as a chance to make some cash to replace the money she took out of the vacation fund (without telling her husband) to give to her mother.

The book in my opinion really wasn't focused on the Me List at all. We get the initial introduction to it. Olivia, at least in my opinion, doesn't really put but like one real thing on the list. Her list just comes off as this superficial entity that the book rushes through accomplishing. Instead, it becomes about this toxic relationship she has with both her mother and her neighbor/boss. Olivia's mom is a whole other level of toxic that the book really should not have tackled because it just feels so rushed and again almost superficial. Her mother is an addict and this has strained the relationship they have. Olivia wants a relationship with her mother so badly for most of the book and then suddenly is just like I can't keep doing this.

We also learn that Patricia her neighbor/boss has a child who is struggling with addiciton, an element that you think would work to bond them, however they never discuss it until the final bit of the novel. Patricia instead for most of the novel manipulates Olivia in various ways. We are supposed to believe they have developed this friendship, but like the entire time they both just come across as tolerating or out right disliking each other. It was just a struggle to believe this dynamic for me.

The whole book Olivia has managed to find an excuse not to tell her husband that she leant her mom money. That is until the second to last chapter and all of a sudden she springs it on him, but it's fine she replaced it. They have this brief dispute about it and her mother and then bam.. happy family. I just feel like for a novel about self-improvement... nobody had any growth whatsoever. I was honestly really disappointed with this story. It could have been so much more. I wanted considered DNFing it a few times but hoped it would get better. I mean it's not a terrible story and I'm sure somebody will disagree with my take. It just wasn't for me.… (plus d'informations)

Many of the issues in this book are dark, sad, challenging. Even so, I didn’t find the book overall to be a depressing read. I found it fascinating. Each chapter delved a little deeper into Serena’s psyche and her past, as well as the others in her life. I kept waiting for the revelation that would clarify the rocks beneath Serena’s relationship with her mother, as well as why she felt she could not share her load with those who loved her. When the truth was revealed, all the pieces fell neatly (well, okay, messily) into place, and it became clear why each character did what they did. Once I knew that, I could easily see how that must have twisted all their interrelationships so.

Balko does a masterful job at embedding the festering seed of this family drama, all the while entwining all the characters’ internal turmoil in such a way that they affect one another in an alchemical way. The tension kept me reading, wanting to see whether or when Serena would self-destruct or, if not, what could possibly save her. I loved that I got to see the tangle of emotions through the perspectives of each involved character, which helped me see the overall Gordian knot of miscommunication, exclusion, and lost connections that underlay the whole mess.

Though there was a boatload of dysfunction in this family, there was a ray of light near the story’s end. When the mysterious seed of it all came to light, I found myself riding Serena’s crashing waves of emotion through all the stages – anger, denial, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance. With that last stage, Serena makes deep choices about her life, and the reader is left with a hopeful ending.

This is an emotional rollercoaster of a book. I did find that I had to put it down a time or two in order to digest the turmoil and not overwhelm myself. But it was never hard to pick it up again. I wanted to know whether Serena made it through the challenge, and what price the characters would each pay for the role they played in this tale.

The Things We Keep is a strong women’s fiction tale that will take you along for an emotional ride through grief, family drama, secrets, and loneliness, and will leave a lasting impression that will linger long after you turn the last page.… (plus d'informations)