#ReadTheGuestBook – Donna's Reading Chair

As I was reading The Guest Book by Sarah Blake I came across an Instagram post from my cousin and realized she would probably LOVE this book. The only problem is she lives in Boston, 2,730 miles away from me. Rather than leave this advance reader copy in a Little Free Library, I decided I’d ship it off to Boston! *cue Dropkick Murphys music now*

Then the idea hit me. Why not create a mini guest book of sorts within the book itself?

I asked her to add my name and my grandmother’s name next to our locations, that makes it more guestbooky. I left my Instagram (IG) handle in the book so hopefully I will be tagged in all the places this work of historical fiction has been read! Maybe it will be a flop and maybe it will be a semi-hit with at least a few posts on IG as to where it ends up being read. Maybe I’ll be sending more books across the country to friends once I’m done reading them and my local reading circle has finished them. This is probably something I’ll definitely do with any physical advance reader copy books I get as you cannot resell them. I would hate for them to go to waste just collecting dust on my shelf!

What do you think of this idea? Hey…maybe I’ll end up sending YOU a book!

Thank you to Flat Iron Books for the advance copy of The Guest Book by Sarah Blake. I know guys, this was released on May 7, 2019 and here we are in June…I promise you I read it myself before the release date…my little fingers just could not connect to the keyboard fast enough!

This is a work of historical fiction. Not my usual genre; however, I happen to occasionally enjoy mixing things up. This books takes us between the 1930s-1950s and present day. This novel tackles racism and the power that families have held in the US for generations.

The family owns an island. The money has run out. The granddaughter does not want to give the island up because of the family history it has to offer. She sets off on a journey to uncover what exactly her family stood for and how they really made their money.

I found myself speed reading this gem. The book is long and a LOT is said throughout the book. The irony is that the book deals with things that are unsaid. I guess we the reader just need a lot to understand everything going on.

I will say, without giving too much away, I really enjoyed the end and how it was all brought together. Sometimes family secrets are best kept a secret and I enjoyed how the author chose to leave the book. I did not enjoy the amount of time it took me to get to that point however.

The story is one that is multi-generational (and told through multi-generational perspectives) and bits and pieces are put together from past to present. It was lovely having the different viewpoints and how we as a society have changed (and haven’t) since the World War II era.

I am going to give this book 3.5 stars (rounding up to 4 on rating sites). It was a long read that felt like a chore at some points for me. I did enjoy how everything came together, but it was just so long. I felt like a huge part of the beginning of the book was only focused on the past and the present day was only there to uncover “secrets” which aren’t really that amazing of a secret. The one secret that would be scandalous isn’t ever outright said, we the reader just need to interpret what the characters are saying. Overall, just an OK read. Have you read this one?

Title: The Guest Book

Author: Sarah Blake

Publisher: Flatiron Books

Release Date: May 7, 2019

Find it here on Goodreads and Amazon

Tag: #ReadTheGuestBook

Book Review: The Guest Book @flatironbooks #ReadTheGuestBook #TheGuestBook #SarahBlake