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The Forgotten Ones A Novel edition by Steena Holmes Literature Fiction eBooks

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The Forgotten Ones A Novel edition by Steena Holmes Literature Fiction eBooks

Started out interesting. The pace is a bit lopsided; it starts out rich in characterization, and draws out the suspense. And then, all of a sudden, it ends. Just ends. With loose ends wrapped up in a pretty little rhetorical bow. I started reading the author's 'thank you' chapter before I realized that I had already read the ending of the book. Disappointing.


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The Forgotten Ones A Novel edition by Steena Holmes Literature Fiction eBooks Reviews

Having torn through The Forgotten Ones by Steena Holmes in under a night, it’s easy to understand why the author’s name is typically preceded by ‘best-selling,’ and deservedly so. From the opening line, the reader is thrust into an old man’s guilty conscience. David, resigned to die alone, sends one final letter to Elle, the granddaughter he never met. Elle, a nurse who grew up under the rapid swings of her mother’s mental illness, is excited to learn any and everything about her family history, even though her mother warns her the man calling himself their relative is not to be trusted. Against her mother’s wishes, and at the risk of sending the fragile woman into a breakdown, Elle digs deep into a past no one wants to talk about. Once she picks the bits of truth from the fragments of memories, Elle’s unsure whether anyone benefits from digging up the secrets of the past.
Told in descriptive and visceral prose, it’s easy to disappear into the dark secrets of Elle’s family history. Holmes not only lets the reader empathize with the struggles of a tumultuous past, but handles the subjects of mental illness and cancer with a balance that speaks to expertise and true compassion, without resorting to cliche.
Make a pot of coffee, grab a box of tissues, and put out the Do-Not-Disturb sign, you won’t stop reading The Forgotten Ones until you know the whole story.
Why did I choose three stars? Hard to say but I would have to read this book again to get it straight. I don't want to do that. The story was strung out with not a good thing in it. If you like children in a wicked setting, a sad man dying, three women in distress about their past and an unauthorized grave yard behind the barn. Then this is just for you. Oh yes, the parents of all the children were part of the mysterious mix too
The Forgotten Ones is compelling family drama with a thriller edge that had me turning each page with anticipation. The writing, the words, the emotion…GAH….I flippin' loved it all. Talk about layers! Even the layers had layers.

Keep in mind; things were different in 1950’s rural America. Family history, mental illness and unsavory events were hidden, pushed to the far corners of an unused closet, never to be brought out again. What happened in the family, stayed in the family. It was a simpler time but also a less understanding time and things could happen then that wouldn’t be possible today.

David’s death bed confessions has Elle, his estranged granddaughter, scrambling to figure out if he could possibly be telling the truth or if it's just the mixed up memories of an old man, altered by time and age. After all, it can’t be true, nothing this horrific could possibly be…..or could it. Mental illness does run in the family but this….no, not this. One person’s version of the truth is never the whole story and finding the answers she needs is an exercise in frustration for Elle. Especially since most everyone who could provide them is unwilling or unable to talk about the family history.

This is Elle’s journey to unlocking the secrets of her family’s past and it’s full of twists, turns and shocking revelations. This book, like life, is messy and doesn’t come delivered in a pretty package and I wouldn't have loved it as much if it had been.
This story has so many twists and turns! Mental illness and secrets destroys the family until the grandfather becomes terminally ill and then the secrets begin to spill out and life is turned upside down for everyone. What is true? Emotionally charged that will keep you on the edge of your seat!
For most of the book, I really liked the story. It was suspenseful and hard to put down. Unfortunately, there were too many mistakes, inconsistencies, and the need to suspend all rationality to believe the ending.

Warning spoilers ahead.

At the end, Marie says she's Anna Marie, not Bella, because she wrote everything down in her journal. I have to assume the italicized passages in the book were from her journal. However, in Chapter 26, Gertie says the girls are too smart for kindergarten, so she's going to homeschool them. What 4-6 year old child keeps a journal? What 4-6 year old child can grasp many of the concepts she writes in said journal? And then, 40-50 years later, miraculously discovers this journal and finds the answer to her identity after decades of being unsure? Not even close to being realistic.

No explanation given for why the girls crossed the road to get to the creek when they'd never done it before and were expressly forbidden from doing so? Did they really fall, or did Gertie push them? No real answers to what happened to cause the death of one of the girls that led to an identity crisis in the other girl.

Even a nurse specifically trained in recognizing psychological illnesses and symptoms could not tell Gertie was so far out of touch with reality until she tried to kill herself and her daughter, even after David told Grace that Gertie was a danger? Again, hard to believe.

By the way, if Marie was Bella, that would have made Elle the great-granddaughter of Judy's parents, not their granddaughter as stated in the book (moot point since Marie was apparently not Bella).

This could have been a great book, but completely fell apart in the end.
Started out interesting. The pace is a bit lopsided; it starts out rich in characterization, and draws out the suspense. And then, all of a sudden, it ends. Just ends. With loose ends wrapped up in a pretty little rhetorical bow. I started reading the author's 'thank you' chapter before I realized that I had already read the ending of the book. Disappointing.