Received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Byrd was a different book experience for me. It was written in a tense that wasn't entirely comfortable for me to read as it just didn't seem right to me. It was almost as if I was reading someone else's narration of the story. I don't know, it was odd. The story itself was told in letters and excerpts from each character's life. The book felt disjointed to me and while I see how everything fits together, I just don't think it worked for me.

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I didn't know what to expect going in to this book and I have to admit it took me a little while to get in to the rhythm of the story and the writing. I didn't understand exactly what Church was doing and what was happening. But then it clicked and everything made sense. Not only did everything make sense but the story became heartbreaking and I kept hoping that everything was finally going to work out for Addie and she'd find peace. I liked the epistolary style of the book. It made everything seem more personal and private like I was looking in on someone's diary. Lauren Fortgang did a wonderful job with the narration and the audiobook is well worth listening to. ( )

I think what I like most about this book is its beauty. The writing is artistic without being ostentatious. I don't think that this beauty is technical in its origin, although I can think of a favorite passage: "Neither of them thinks of love they way they used to, as something to be fallen into, like a bed or a pit. It isn't big or deep or abstract. Love is particulate. It's fine. It accumulates like dust." No, the beauty of the book is in its treatment of the characters. It's both harsh in its truth and forgiving in its judgment, especially of the main character, Addie. It is about dreams, and dreams dashed, and what you can recover after that. I loved reading this book. ( )

There can surely be no more poignant moment than the relinquishment of a birth child for adoption. This is the story of Addie who calls that birth child Byrd in unsent letters explaining her life and her memories. The love of her young life is Roland, a musician, who occasionally shares his bed with Addie, but doesn't return her commitment to their love. The book follows Addie through some difficult moments when Byrd is always in her heart and on her mind. It also follows Roland, who marries someone else and has a son, unaware that Addie has had their child and given him up for adoption in a selfless, generous gesture. Everyone in this novel is a good person doing his or her best with the resources they have. The ending is haunting. ( )

Byrd by Kim Church is a very highly recommended novel that explores the feelings of Addie, the birth mother of Byrd, and how her decision to give him up for adoption shapes her life.

Church has given us an amazing gift with her novel Bryd. She provides us with keen insight into Addie's thoughts as we follow her through her choices and her life. Addie's story is told through reflection and letter which Addie is writing to Byrd to tell the story of her life and his beginning. Although part of the life of the birth father, Roland, is also explored, this is definitely Addie's life story as she tells it to Byrd, the son she gave up for adoption.

Byrd showcases excellent writing on Church's part. Her ability to capture a person's inner voice is credible and makes Addie feel like a woman you know who has had to make difficult decisions in her life and has lived with the consequences of her choices. Church endows Addie with complex emotions. She manages to simultaneously capture Addie's lowered expectations of a stunted career choice with the struggle to make sense of her life choices and the path she is following.

This is a real character study of one woman's life. But it is a multifaceted and brilliantly layered story of how her choices affected her life. For how much I loved this novel, I'm finding it a struggle to fully express why I loved it so much. Perhaps because it felt like it truly captured someone's inner life and Addie feels like a real person, someone I know.

Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of Dzanc Book via Netgalley for review purposes.





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