As a book reviewer, I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher or author to facilitate this review. I received no other compensation, and all opinions are always 100% my own.
How far would you go to protect one of your own? And how would you decide what that protection even was? Where do your and your loved ones’ needs and desires meet, and where do they part? We Would Never offers a gripping look at the way one family answered those questions.
Hailey is the youngest and only girl, a peacemaker who is easy to please and whose mother calls her Sunshine. She marries a man named Jonah, an author who is having trouble following up on a successful first novel. The duo have moved to a town in New York, far from her family, but the arrival of their beloved baby Maya eases things along, at first anyway. Jonah is manipulative and overbearing, while Hailey is just trying to get along. As we get to know her mother Sherry better, however, we begin to see just where Hailey picked up that coping mechanism. When Jonah demands a divorce, Hailey turns to her family for support–her father Sol, a well-respected dermatologist, oldest brother Nate, who’s joined her father’s firm after many years being the troublemaker, and mother Sherry, who only wants to have her family close–or so she believes about herself. There is another brother, Adam, who has cut himself off completely from the rest of them.
The divorce quickly spirals into acrimony. Sherry’s constant interference backfires. When Jonah is shot answering the door one day, Hailey is the natural first suspect, and her family rally round her. But as more and more secrets emerge, the reader isn’t sure who to believe, or how this is going to go.
One thing I loved about this book is how the author makes you doubt your own perception. We’re so deep in the character’s heads that we’re not sure we’re able to know the unbiased truth of any given situation. So, was Jonah really manipulative or was he right to try to wean Hailey off her overbearing mother? Was Sherry right to be suspicious of his motives? Frustratingly, we don’t know. I mean this as a compliment–the book feels all too true to life! I loved how completely absorbed we were in various people’s outlooks.
We Would Never offers a deep look at complex family dynamics, sibling rivalry, and the challenges of healthy leaving. But mostly it’s a really good story. I stayed up too late more than one night, unable to put it down. I didn’t completely love the ending, but I respected it. Highly recommended!