I had a strange relationship with the book Cottage by the Sea by Robin Jones Gunn. That may sound weird, but it is truly the only way I can think to describe how I felt about it. I enjoyed the book and I would recommend it for anyone to read. Yet at the same time, the story very closely resembled my own recently. While I won't go into detail about that, I will say it was both comforting and uncomfortable.

My favorite part of this book was how the author made the characters so real. Each one had good traits and bad, whether they meant to or not, and many different characteristics made them multi-dimentional. She showed just how it is possible to love someone more than life, yet hurt them almost beyond repair. Some never realized they were hurting anyone, while others knew exactly how much they were hurting the very ones who cared for them.

The only part I didn’t like was that the middle seemed to slow a little. Very long and descriptive sentences seemed in some parts to tell rather than show me what I wanted to know. Because of that, I became a little bored just for the middle, but I had to know what became of the characters. I am glad I finished the book, because the last quarter picked back up again, and came to a satisfying conclusion.

All in all I give the book four stars, and recommend it to anyone who has people in their lives to care for that they are also trying desperately to understand.

I was given this book by the publisher for free in exchange for my honest review.