Kelly Rimmer

After finding disturbing journal pages that suggest her late mother didn't die in a car accident as her father had always maintained, Beth Walsh begins a search for answers.

Truths I Never Told You

Kristen Claiborn

This was a compelling story that highlights women and health situations exclusive to them. Being a woman alive in 2020, it's hard for me to imagine not having access to birth control. I can't imagine being with a partner opposed to using birth control. I can't imagine suffering from post-partum depression and being told I was weak and I needed to just "toughen up". I can't imagine not having access to safe termination methods. I feel lucky to be alive now after previous generations of women fought hard for all women to have the right to make choices regarding their own bodies. I give thanks for those warriors. It is also refreshing to see such a frank tale of a woman dealing with post-partum depression. How do we, as a society, let women know it's OK to have those feelings? We need to talk, a lot, about how new mothers are feeling. 
 The only thing I didn't like were the painfully long paragraphs that I found very bland and unnecessary. I glossed over so much of this book and I genuinely hate that.

Megan Coons

This isn’t my usual genre so I was shocked at just how much I loved this and never wanted to stop!

Karen Shimek

Lynn

I received a copy of this book from a Goodreads giveaway. 
This was a very interesting book about a subject that is not often discussed, postpartum depression. The fact that it takes place in two different time periods is important to the context in that it shows how response and treatment to this condition has changed over the years. 
The main character, Beth, also learns many truths about her father. She takes on the task of cleaning out the house after he is sent to an assisted living establishment. While she is doing this she discovers a lock on the attic door. This door reveals many hidden secrets.
Beth has a family of her own made up of a husband and infant son. She also has a sister and two brothers. The facts that come to light in this story also change the dynamics among these relationships. 
I very much enjoyed this read even though it is outside of my usual genre.

Leelynn Brady

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing, Netgalley, and Graydon House for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.

This was such a hard book to read with the mental illness component involved. I may not be a mother, and I may not have a firsthand account of what postpartum depression does to a woman, but seeing it in this novel was hard to take in. I think about my friends that have probably gone through this without telling anyone, and I think about how there’s this huge stigma that new mothers should be so happy with what’s happening with them that there shouldn’t be any reason for them to suffer from any sort of depression – postpartum or otherwise. How wrong that thinking is.

Rimmer really gave me a novel to think about. I love historical fiction novels that also have alternating time periods sprinkled throughout it. It’s interesting how authors are able to blend in the past and the present together in a way that makes the story easy to follow and give you two different characters to root for in some aspect. I feel like Rimmer did a great job with this.

Not only do we have the story of Grace and the postpartum depression that she suffered, but we also have Beth dealing with her father’s dementia in the present time (or at least closer to the present than Grace’s storyline), so there are at least two different mental illnesses that the readers are dealing with through different characters. I feel like the representation was okay, although like I mentioned I can’t really judge enough to tell whether it’s accurate or not. I would hope that someone that either has personal experience with either of these illnesses, or knows someone that does can weigh in on this.

While I don’t know if I would read this book again – difficult plots like these rarely get a reread for me regardless of how well I like it – I think that there will be certain people that will enjoy it. I look forward to reading other novels from Rimmer and seeing what else she may have in store.

Krystal Campbell 

If you are looking for a REAL and RAW read then look no further. This book was so interwoven that every character plays a part and the twist isn't mind blowing but it hits you just as hard. There are so many topics discussed in this book in an amazing way that the reader can't ignore it. The author didn't hold back! 

There is a slight lull in the middle but hang on because the final ride the end will take you on is worth it. Its like the slow ride to the top of a roller coaster.

Truths I Never Told You

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