Little Big Love by Katy Regan– 384 pages
Book Blurb:
Liam Jones was the love of Juliet’s life. He was her brother’s best friend, then her best friend, then the father of her little boy. In those shining weeks after Zac was born, she had never been happier and neither had Liam. And then one night, Liam disappeared without a trace.
Ten-year-old Zac Hutchinson collects facts: octopuses have three hearts, Usain Bolt is the fastest man on earth. But no one will tell him what happened to his father and where he went. When Juliet, inadvertently admits that his father is the only man she’s ever loved, Zac decides he is going to find him and deliver his mom the happily ever after she deserves. But Liam left for a reason, and as Zac searches for clues of his father, Juliet begins to rebuild what shattered so many years ago.
An unforgettable, heart-stopping story of the secrets we keep and of love in all of its many forms.
My Review: 3.5 stars
Little Big Love is one of those books that’s both heartwarming and heartbreaking. It falls into that category of charming books and has depth from long-held secrets that have the power to devastate. I received this book as an ARC last year and somehow with the plethora of books I have in my TBR, I never found my way to it. With the all new paperback release, I pushed it up and dug in during this cold front in Chicago.
This book was written in three different POVs, one from a young boy, the second from his mother, and finally from his grandfather. These characters combined allowed for many issues and themes to run through the book: secrets, bullying, friendship, love, illness, childhood obesity, mystery, single parenting, fathers and loss. Zac was by far my favorite character. Although he suffered the most, his intentions were pure and seeing the world through his lens gave the reader the blunt truth of his life. His friendship with sweet Teagan was just a bucket full of warmth. I liked her a lot but not sure her musings on the world were normal for such a young mind.
The book was predictable as many are, but I’m used to that. I liked that this author wrote loosely about what she knows, an “oops” pregnancy and single mom parenting. This is her fourth book, which landed as a debut in the states.
Quotes I liked:
Nope, fat shaming is alive and well, I’m afraid.”
“My son needs a father—isn’t that more important than me needing the ONE? I don’t have to have someone I can fall in love with, I just need someone who can love my son.”
-“You can’t change anything unless you’re aware of what you’re doing now and what you want to change. Be aware.”
-“Like, what’s normal? Everything that exists is normal – that’s why it’s normal, because it exists. Only things that you never see aren’t normal.”
