My favorite reading genre is science fiction, which you already know if you frequent my blog. However, every once in a while, I’ll step outside my comfort zone and read something a bit, well, different. Such was the case with Everything We Keep by Kerry Lonsdale.
Clearly, the book does not fit into the science fiction category. There is no mention of sentient robots, super-intelligent AI, space travel, or alien beings. In fact, there is pretty much no mention of any technology whatsoever. If anything, it fits into the romance genre, which I don’t like much and rarely read. But you know what, I liked Everything We Keep, a lot. I’m not afraid to admit it, and here’s why.
At first, I was wondering what I had gotten myself into. Part 1 of the book seemed slow and meandered around. I wasn’t entirely sure where Lonsdale was heading with the story.
Then, in part 2, the pace picked up. All of hints and pieces from part 1, which seemed so random and superfluous at the time, all fell into place. I found myself unable to put the book down. While some was due to the plot, some was because I wanted to see how Lonsdale was going to tie up the loose ends from part 1. Overall, I was impressed. She brought everything full circle and answered nearly all of my questions.
The book also provided some interesting, existential questions to ponder over. It makes you wonder how you would deal with losing what you valued most in life, what you would do to get it back, and what you would do if you found what you lost. Would you fight at all costs to get it back, or would you be able to let it go?
For a debut novel, Everything We Keep is outstanding. Kerry Lonsdale did a fantastic job with it. The writing is superb, the plot holds together, and the characters are relatable and well-developed. I’d highly recommend the book and have dropped it into my Must Read category. It’s an interesting story, it’s well written, and it’s hard to put down. In other words, it checks all the important boxes.