The Epic Story of Every Living Thing. Deb Caletti. 2022. 416 pages. [Source: Library]
First sentence: Harper scooches her foot this way, and then scooches her foot back. It's always so hard to know what to do with your hands. Why are you so suddenly aware of your hands when you're trying to take a good photo, when they usually just do their own thing?
Premise/plot: Harper, our protagonist, is almost always on her phone. She's always thinking about her social media image--how to get more views, more likes, more engagement, etc. She's not as thoughtful or considerate of the actual human beings in her life. (Like her mom and her boyfriend.) But all that changes over the course of one summer when she goes on a family vacation with strangers.
Harper meets up with three of her forty-plus HALF-siblings. (Her father was a sperm donor). A few of them have worked together to track him down. He's in Hawaii. That summer they will go to meet him...and get to know one another.
The Epic Story of Every Living Thing definitely is influenced by the aftermath (or the continuance) of COVID. Harper is learning or relearning how to function in the 'real world' again. She's still a little fearful of getting completely back to normal. But overcoming bigger fears (like meeting her father) might just help her make peace with who she truly is.
My thoughts: Harper isn't the most likable character. But I don't know that that is a must to tell a compelling story. (The story is set during the summer before her senior year of high school. But Harper is only now beginning to get to know herself or to find herself.) I definitely cared enough to keep reading to find out where the story went...
© 2022 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
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