Review: Year of Mistaken Discoveries by Eileen Cook

Title: Year of Mistaken Discoveries

Author: Eileen Cook

Published by: Simon Pulse

Released: 2015

Source: Library

Summary: Nora and Avery became friends in grade school because of a shared connection, they were both adopted. Over the years they've grown apart, and with senior year flying by, they will soon go on their separate ways forever. Avery hasn't been really bothered by the demise of their friendship, they are into separate things, different hobbies. Avery is shocked when she learns that Nora is dead, by suicide.

With Nora's death, Avery's life starts to spin out of control. She's on a break from her relationship, her dream college has deferred her early admission status, and she needs a new partner for her senior project. Avery then gets partnered up with Nora's old partner, Brody. She decides to continue with the quest Nora began, and find her birth mother. 

What starts as a selfish way to impress the college board with an awesome senior project changes into something else, and new friends are made along the way.

My Thoughts: I liked this book. It gave me an interesting look into adoption and just what family means.

This book tried to tackle two pretty big issues: suicide and adoption. Well, maybe tackle isn't the right word, more like explore these two issues. I felt like it explored one thing more than it did the other. Nora was pretty much a jumping off point for Avery's search for her birth mother. The suicide aspect was almost kind of an add-on. A little was done with it, but not enough. Suicide is a shocking, tragic event. Knowing that you'll never see that person again, and they they left by their own hand can be almost too much to bear. It's a permanent fix to a temporary problem. I almost wish the author had picked a different way for Nora to die.

The adoption aspect, and the search for the birth mother was pretty interesting, but I felt like everything happened too quickly. It all came together too neatly. Maybe it was because it was such a short read, but I kind of wanted more from the search, and maybe finding her birth father too. I did feel bad for Avery at the end of her journey.

My other little gripes were that I wasn't the biggest fan of the quick romance and Avery's reasoning for embarking on the search. I was hot and cold with Avery's character. 

I did like the overall story and the ending. It was different because I don't usually read books about suicide and adoption. I wish things would have gone more in depth and been a little meatier, but all in all, I did enjoy it. I think I'm going to read some more of Eileen Cook's stuff, because I'm interested.

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 3.3/5

I Am Intrigued.