Synopsis
Two half-siblings who have never met embark on a search together for the Iranian immigrant and U.S. Army veteran father they never knew.
Samira Murphy will do anything to keep her fractured family from falling apart, including caring for her widowed grandmother and getting her older brother into recovery for alcohol addiction. With attendance at her dream college on the line, she takes a long shot DNA test to find the support she so desperately needs from a father she hasn’t seen since she was a baby.
Henry Owen is torn between his well-meaning but unreliable bio-mom and his overly strict aunt and uncle, who stepped in to raise him but don’t seem to see him for who he is. Looking to forge a stronger connection to his own identity, he takes a DNA test to find the one person who might love him for exactly who he is―the biological father he never knew.
Instead of a DNA match with their father, Samira and Henry are matched with each other. They begin to search for their father together and slowly unravel the difficult truth of their shared past, forming a connection that only siblings can have and recovering precious parts of their past that have been lost. Brimming with emotional resonance, Susan Azim Boyer’s The Search for Us beautifully renders what it means to find your place in the world through the deep and abiding power of family.
The Good
I. Family is the center of the story – parents, siblings, different type of families (stepping in take care of grandchildren or nieces/nephews).
B. Different point of views enhanced the story
C. Family messiness but also humanization
D. Fact that the story let there be actual family fallout and reconciliation.
E. Represented overachieving, intergenerational trauma, alcoholism, and more
F. Wrap up of overall story
Thoughts
I. Cover
Has the illustrated cover been associated with romance so much that seeing this cover makes you think they are romantic partners instead of siblings? Is the centering of romance detrimental to ya age category in some ways? Does centering romance make it easier to erase family and adults from stories?
II. Intergeneration trauma
A. Getting vibe that people want to hold the trauma that their ancestors experienced against them like it is a sin or their ancestors’ fault.
B. Teens/kids & trauma: It is interesting that many dismiss ya when so much of the trauma manifesting in adulthood is from childhood/teenage phase of life. There is probably something about the push to erase adults/family from stories when so much of trauma is family related.
C. Adults are humans with trauma and flaws which is forgotten when this discussion comes up.
D. Trauma is sad.
III. Miscellaneous
A. Overachieving- being the responsible one does something to people. It can become a toxic trait making one think that everyone is incompetent. Also, it can make you mean and bossy. None of that negates the fact that you should not be taking care of everything while everyone else does nothing/little.
B. Henry uncle/dad got off easy. He was on a bigot arc but I am happy the story did not focus on that because it would have taken precedence over everything else in the story.
IV. If you liked this I would recommend Forgive Me Not by Jennifer Baker
(image and synopsis from goodreads)
I won this from St. Martins Press via goodreads
themollyweather 