~January's Pick~

Welcome to the first post of my monthly pick segment. Each month I'll pick one book I've read that tops the list for my favourite read of the month.

To start it off, January's pick is Fragments of Light by Michele Phoenix.

This book goes back and forth between two perspectives, one in modern day, the other in 1944.

Struggling after cancer took everything from Ceelie, including her marriage, she's rocked by the news that her elderly friend, Darlene's, prognosis has taken a turn for the worse. Knowing time is running short, Darlene asks that Ceelie help her find out what happened to her father, who abandoned her when she was just a baby. Hoping that it will bring closure for her dear friend, they begin searching for the evasive father.

In the second perspective, we journey with Darlene's father who was a paratrooper on D-day. Journeying with him through his trials, trying to understand why he abandoned his young daughter. Switching back and forth between the two time periods, the story unfolds and the search for the truth draws heartbreaking answers closer, and a happy ending, further.

This book… This book was incredible. It was emotional, heart-wrenching, tear inducing, and beautifully honest. Without spoiling too much, I will say that I appreciated the realness of the story. It wasn't sugar-coated or unrealistically happy at the end. Things didn’t just come together for the sake of finishing with a happy ending. It was a raw story of humanness and heartache but also laced with hope, ending it off with a bittersweet, thought-provoking finish.

Rating it an 8.5/10, I had a hard time returning this to my library and would definitely recommend it!