A compelling, but depressing story, told by the sister of a groom who is asked to speak at his wedding. The story of their lives becoming more and more bleak as it unfolds. ( )

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

This is a story about adoption and infertility, with the narrator (who is struggling to get pregnant) addressing her adopted brother and talking about the things she might say about him in her speech at his wedding. It is therefore in the second person throughout, which I dislike and which felt contrived in places - the constant references to 'your brother in law' grated every time. There were paragraphs with researched information about adoption or infertility which read as if they had been dropped in so that the reader would understand things better, but which read oddly in the context of the narrator talking to her brother.

The parents were very saintly, although perhaps naive - Danny would only have abused my credit card the one time. This was a thoughtful book, and I can see that other readers might score it more highly, but for me it was a three star read: it dragged a bit by the end and the constant shifting in timeline which now seems compulsory in all new novels didn't help. ( )