Book Review: We Will All Be Received by Leslie Vryenhoek

Book: 150

Rating: 4/5

I was really lucky to get a free copy of this Canadian book!

In 1977, a young woman decides to finally leave her drug dealing and bad news boyfriend, and hitchhikes her way across the country finally settling down in a small town in Newfoundland. Assuming a new identity as Dawn Taylor, she picks up a job at a local motel completely disassociating from her 'previous' life. Flash forward thirty years later, Dawn ends up hosting a group of individuals at the motel during a snow storm and they all have one thing in common: the desire to completely re-write their own stories.

I really loved the pacing of this one. The first part of the book really zeroed in on Dawn, and the last third of the book felt like a totally different book: some additional characters thrown into the mix, and more plot driven vs. character driven (I really enjoy both plot and character driven books, so it felt like the best of both worlds). The last act of the book felt like a thriller to me, so there really is a lot going on but it really ties together smoothly.

The writing was really impressive, and the reason that the book didn't get a full five stars from me was because I felt like some of the actions a few of the characters made towards the end of the book were out of character and random because to me it felt like their characters were set up for something else. But I think this is just a preference thing on my part.

A big thank you to Breakwater for sending me a finished copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Be sure to check out their website for some Canadian lit: https://www.breakwaterbooks.com/.