The Words between Us by Erin Bartels

The Words between Us by Erin Bartels ISBN-13: 9780800734923 Paperback: 358 pages Publisher: Revell Released: Sept. 3, 2019

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from NetGalley:
Robin Windsor has spent most of her life using an assumed name, running from her family's ignominious past. She thought she'd finally found sanctuary in her rather unremarkable used bookstore just up the street from the marina in River City, Michigan. But the store is failing and the past is hot on her heels.

When she receives an eerily familiar book in the mail on the morning of her father's scheduled execution, Robin is thrown back to the long-lost summer she met Peter Flynt. That book--Catcher in the Rye--is soon followed by the other books she shared with Peter nearly twenty years ago. But why would Peter be making contact after all these years? And why does she have a sinking feeling that she'll have to finally stop running and face her past?


My Review:
The Words between Us is general fiction about a hurting girl who hurts other hurting people. Part of the story occurred when she was 14 years old. The "now" part of the story happened when she's 32 years old. It's a depressing story because Robin was depressed and hopeless for 80% of the book. I didn't even find the ending very satisfying, partly because it wrapped up so fast that there were loose ends.

Anyway, Robin blamed everyone else for messing up her life, but she made a lot of bad choices of her own (including spending 9+ years of her life not speaking at all in an effort to hide from life). When 14 years old, Robin began loving an older boy named Peter because he shared his mother's books with her, allowing her to escape her own life for a while. Even though she only knew Peter for 6 months and believes he betrayed her trust, 18 years later she still "loves" him because she shared more of her inner thoughts and feelings with him (in poems) than with anyone else. She doesn't even know the guy anymore, but that doesn't matter. I suppose the ending is supposed to be impulsively romantic and touching, but I thought it was rather foolish.

Throughout the story, Robin uncovered the truth about some things in the past that prompted her to look at her life, forgive some people, and take responsibility for her own actions. There was no sex. There were two uses of cr*p but no other bad language.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


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