The Book of Someday - Dianne Dixon

When I first heard about this book, it sounded like a fun, chick-lit sort of book. I just read a couple of great, middle-grade books, so I figured it was time for a grown-up book, but nothing too serious. Comparing the book, as they do in the blurb from Booklist, to Kristen Hannah and Jodi Piccoult, really did not do anything for me, since I have not read much by either of them, but the concept was one I like – three people living their separate lives, and the twist that reveals how their lives are intertwined. There are parts of this book that deal with some serious topics of abuse and violence, so it was not the light and easy book I expected. But I found that I really cared about these characters. Some of them, at least in the beginning, seemed a little stereotypical, but for the most part the people in this story became quite real to me. 

 

I really liked the fact that it took a few twists and turns before I figured out how the characters lives were going to intersect, because of course you know that is going to happen. The fact that some character’s stories occurred in different years gave some hints about how things would fall into place, but the author’s flair for realistic dialogue really moved the story along.

 

For the most part, I liked all of the characters, though I will say that this book contained one of the weakest male characters I have ever encountered. (I mean this in terms of character, not description.) His behavior hit me somewhere between completely despicable and totally unbelievable.

 

There were other things that defy credibility – but for the most part I really enjoyed this story, and wanted to finish to see how they would all end up. I did appreciate that the author did not give everyone a perfectly happy ending; that some things were left unsaid. After I finished, I looked up Dianne Dixon to see if she had written other books. I had seen a blurb about her on Goodreads, and it talked about her screenwriting credits and her Emmy nominations. So I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised to read that she wrote some Mary-Kate and Ashley Olson books. I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt on those, but I think I'll try The Language of Secrets instead.