Book Recommendation: The Year of Shadows by Claire Legrand

I have finally, finally read this book for a second time. It's been more than four years since I first read it. And so I had forgotten just how much I loved this book. And oh, my love for it is strong. I adore Claire like crazy, and her books are always the best. I simply loved this book the most this second time reading it. I'm so glad that I finally took the time to read it again. I adore Olivia and Henry and the ghosts the very most. Eee. But oh gosh, my want for a sequel is so huge right now. I want more so badly. How very rude.

The writing in this book is so good. And I connected so well with all of the characters. Sigh. I love that this book is told from the point of view of twelve year old Olivia. She was simply the sweetest person. But she was also full of hurt and anger. And I did not blame her one bit. Okay, I was a bit upset with her at first, for how she treated her father, but then the reveal happened near the end of the book, and I got very upset with him too. Hmph. Olivia is the best girl. She's a bit broken, yet still so good. Loved getting to know her.

This book tells the story of Olivia and her ghosts. Though at first it's just her, and she has been forced to move into an old concert hall with her dad and her grandma. Her mom left them months ago, and she is feeling so bitter and sad about all of that. And reading about it just broke my heart. Because Olivia now has no friends, and she's sad and angry, and people are picking on her at school, and I did not approve one bit. I just wanted to hug this girl so badly. Sniffs. It was written really well, though. But extremely sad.

Olivia is not okay with living at the concert hall, because it isn't a home at all. And so she's taking it out on her dad a lot. And I can't say I blame her for that. He was not a great parent at all. Hmph. And her Nonnie wasn't all that much help either, as she was eighty years old. But she was the sweetest thing and I loved her. But oh, how my heart broke for Olivia at all times. Not fair at all. I loved how she meets the cat in this book, though. He was adorable and I loved how Olivia pretended he could talk. So cute. Adored this cat.

I just loved getting to know Olivia. I loved how she was amazing at drawing and how she drew all the time. It broke my heart that she was so alone all the time, and how she felt about it all. But what I loved the most was when she started hanging out with Henry. Eee. It was the cutest thing; reading about how they became friends. She does not like him at first, because he's pretty much perfect. But he keeps trying to be her friend, and she warms up to him eventually. And oh, how cute they were together. I loved it so.

And reading about Henry was just the best. He was adorable and so kind and I loved learning about his past as well. Ah. I loved how they both also started to feel something more than friendship towards each other. Eee. I just wish they had been a bit older, so more could have happened. Hmph. Rude. But it was perfect. And I loved it so. Olivia also starts to become friends with this lovely girl, Joan. And I loved that so very much, because she was awesome. A bit scared, yet so lovely too and a great friend. I adored her.

Then there were the ghosts. Because this book isn't only about these amazing characters and their lives. It is also about a whole lot of ghosts. Which was so interesting and exciting to read about. And so very creepy too. There are four main ghosts that Olivia and Henry gets to know, and they were adorable to read about. I loved them so. But oh, reading about all the back stories just about killed me. It was so sad and heartbreaking. Yet so lovely too. I loved reading about the ghosts and how Olivia had to help them.

There is so much happening in this book. So much that I had forgotten about. Like that twist with Olivia's mom. That thing was shocking once again, though this time I noticed all the small hints about it from the beginning. But yeah, pretty heartbreaking and amazing at the same time. I just loved this book the very most. Olivia and Henry were so perfect to read about. And I loved their friendship the very most. I just wish I could read more about them. Aw. The ending was good, but oh, how I wanted an epilogue as well.

There is so much that I love about this precious. And I haven't talked about all the things I love about it at all. Just what I was able to share at this moment. I had forgotten so so many details about this gorgeous book since my first read four years ago. Like how much I really truly loved it. I will never let it go so many years again before I re-read this precious. I also read it as an eARC back then, and so the artwork wasn't final, and gosh, seeing the final versions now just about killed me. So beautiful. Read this book right now.

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