Lucinda Berry Books *SPOILERS*

I love Lucinda Berry’s books. They explore the psychological aspect of situations and she gives her readers a deep dive into her character’s heads. Her characters are often flawed, complex, and incredibly human, which makes them feel authentic and relatable. They navigate intense emotional and psychological struggles, often forcing readers to confront uncomfortable truths about trauma, resilience, and the darker sides of human nature.

I posted my review of When She Returned on instagram, so if you’re curious about what I thought, you can check it out there!

Some additional thoughts I have on the book are: that up until 60% of the book, I hated Meredith (the new wife), and I was thoroughly convinced that she was ruining everything. But after that, I started to see things from her POV and honestly, I get how the whole situation made her feel. It seems that while Scott and Abbi were caught up in their emotions, Meredith was the only one seeing things logically. Now, at first, it seems it’s the other way around. Scott and Abbi seemed like they wanted to provide a safe place for Kate and room to recover. We see Meredith seemingly spiral because it appears that she might lose her family. But, no. She’s experiencing very valid feelings and is looking at Kate for who she is. I won’t go so far as to spoil the end entirely, but I was a bit disenchanted with it. I can’t seem to put my finger on how I would rather it have ended, but something felt out of place about it. It was a quick swift turn of events triggered by something that could either make a whole bunch of sense, or none at all. I’ll leave it at that.

Since When She Returned was not my absolute favorite, I’ll mention the books that are. Saving Noah is on top for me. It’s very rare that a book can actually make me cry real tears and SN did just that. As a mom, it hit me real hard putting myself in the mother’s position. Sometimes she frustrated me, especially the way she tried to handle the situation initially. There might be something admirable about coming forward to the other parents about what Noah did to their girls, but it was very presumptuous of her to think that she could offer up some help and assume that it would all be swept under the rug like it wasn’t a big deal. The parents took appropriate action and there were obviously very tough consequences. It’s a difficult read because on one hand what happened was unforgivable. And had it been swept under the rug, Noah would have most likely continued with the same behavior. On the other hand, the POV makes you sort of empathize a bit (or not), but I’m thinking that is sort of the point of the book. It was very emotional and I saw the twist in the end coming. Something about how the father acted with Noah raised some red flags for me. I read it a while ago, so I’m not clear on the specifics, but I’m clear on how I felt. Overall, it was a disturbing and emotional read and if you’re a parent, this might hit you a little harder.

Appetite for innocence is my second favorite. There were some sequences that were very triggering for me, but (apparently) I live to get triggered. A number of sequences involved dissociation. The psychological process where a person disconnects from what’s going on in the moment. They sort of leave their body. It’s a defense mechanism that’s used to “escape”. Personally, I’m very familiar with it and to read about a character doing it was deeply resonant and unsettling, because it mirrored my own experiences. Seeing it portrayed so accurately made the character feel more real, but it also stirred emotions I didn’t expect. That’s what stood out the most for me. As a whole, it was horrific. As far as the ending, I don’t think I saw it coming, but it made sense. It opened my eyes to how trauma can affect people differently.

If You Tell A Lie and One Of Our Own (audiobook) are other books of hers that I read. Both of them were very good and I recommend you check them out as well!

Until next time,

D. E.