Book: The Guest Book by Mae Marvel
Reviewed by SimplySammie
Rating: 5/5
Way to rip my heart out and make me enjoy it, Mae Marvel. A beautiful story about navigating grief and finding identity outside the legacy of one's family.
Cosima and Edie couldn't come from more different worlds, but what they have in common is more than enough. When they cross paths at an off the beaten path inn in the British countryside, they join forces to solve a mystery that takes them on a European treasure hunt where they find something more important than the treasure at the end... a life lesson.
I found myself sobbing more than once reading this book and that is becoming more and more rare these days but this one hit me square in the chest with issues with grief, identity, and sexuality in ways that were true and honest and beautifully explored.
That said, it's not a book for everyone if you're in a place where those issues may be too much for you. I'm several years removed from having lost my mother and if it had been a fresher loss I don't know that I could have handled it. I saw way too much of myself in Cosima at times, it's such a realistic look at loss.
I loved the characters, I loved the journey, and I loved the ending.