Lisa Jewell

The stunning new novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author. Lydia, Robyn and Dean don't know each other - yet. They live very different lives but each of them, independently, has always felt that something is missing. What they don't know is that a letter is about to arrive that will turn their lives upside down. It is a letter containing a secret - one that will bind them together, and show them what love and familyand friendship really mean...

The Making of Us

Julie Twist

This book is about Daniel who is dying in a hospice, and wants to trace the children who were born as a result of him being a sperm donor years earlier. The story follows Lydia, Dean and Robyn and how they meet up through the Donor Sibling Registry. Their lives are all quite different, and although they don't know each other, they are amazed by how alike they look. They all have different issues in their lives, and are unsure how to deal with them. The parallel story is of Maggie, who is Daniel's friend but is in love with him, as well as Marc, Daniel's brother. I found the story a bit weak, with the three siblings a bit predictable in dealing with their problems.

Rebecka S.

Farhana

It didn’t take me long to finish it at just over 400 pages (including additional author content which I also decided to read) but I wouldn’t call it a book that I “couldn’t-put-down”.

I loved reading the book (most of the time) and I’d happily read it again, yet I don’t think it was written amazingly. Readers on Goodreads have listed How I Live Now as Chick Lit but I think it fits in better as Contemporary literature considering the “chick lit” aspects are less important in the book.

*possible spoilers from here on*

Overall, the story was something I hadn’t read before so I was more than happy to read something so different. On the other hand, I found the beginning of the book difficult to get into. I didn’t really enjoy reading the beginning few chapters until we got to adult Lydia and Dean. I felt like a lot of time was spent on Lydia’s history where it could have been distributed more evenly between the siblings. After reading the additional author content, I’m assuming that Lydia is supposed to be the main character however this isn’t completely evident in the actual book until much later. As with all books with multiple narrators, there was also a lot going on in the beginning so it became a bit confusing to keep up with the various different characters. To deal with this, I found myself regularly returning to earlier chapters to identify characters.

My favourite characters by far were Lydia and Dean; I loved them almost immediately! Their growing sibling relationships had me squealing from happiness non-stop. I loved the similarities between the two of them and the fact that their personalities mirrored each other (and the fact that they both noticed it!). In contrast, I disliked Robyn’s character when we were first introduced to her. I didn’t like her controlling ways and frankly I feel as though she was presented as the perfect teenager and was unnecessarily placed into the book simply to highlight all of the imperfections of the other two characters. Additionally, Robyn’s story seemed independent to Lydia and Dean’s and didn’t seem to fit in with them until the very end.

Speaking of things that didn’t fit in, I really really didn’t like reading the chapters from Maggie and Daniel’s perspectives. I get that they’re both crucial characters in the overall story, but in a book which already has multiple narrators I wanted to see more from the siblings and less from everyone else. I especially disliked Daniel’s chapter as the whole book progressed without much focus on his feelings and then all of a sudden we were given his thoughts. I feel like the sudden chapter describing Daniel’s thoughts was very unnecessary and could have easily been excluded. I get that Daniel is important as the sperm donor father, but much like the siblings themselves I found myself feeling indifferent towards him.

Something I found interesting was that all of the siblings somehow looked alike: I loved the scene in which Dean and Lydia compared their noses! But at the same time I felt like it was a bit unrealistic for them all to somehow look alike. Similarly, it seemed like a lot of the problems within the book were resolved very easily. Although, most of this happened in the last few chapters by which time the momentum had already built up so it was pretty easy to just go with the flow.

In conclusion, despite my complaints I’d still happily recommend this book to any of my friends! If you enjoy romance and family stories this is the book for you!

How much I enjoyed the book: 9/10
How well I think it was written: 6/10

Natascha Dahl

Emily Farrell 

Payten Bovat

From the New York Times bestselling author of Then She Was Gone comes a “compelling and heartbreaking” (Jojo Moyes) novel about three strangers who are brought together by the father they never knew. Lydia, Dean, and Robyn don’t know one another. Yet. Each is facing difficult challenges. Lydia is still wearing the scars from her traumatic childhood. Wealthy and successful, she leads a lonely and disjointed existence. Dean is a young, unemployed, single dad whose life is going nowhere. Robyn is eighteen. Gorgeous, popular, and intelligent, she entered her first year of college confident of her dream to become a pediatrician. Now she’s failing her classes. Now she’s falling in love for the first time. Lydia, Dean, and Robyn live very different lives, but each of them, independently, has always felt that something was missing. What they don’t know is that a letter is about to arrive that will turn their lives upside down. It is a letter containing a secret—one that will bind them together and show them what love and family and friendship really mean. “Filled with heart and humor” (Kirkus Reviews), The Making of Us is a literary gem that will remind readers of the miracles that happen when we bring life into the world and share our lives with those we love.