It’s a strange feeling to lust after New York after so many years of thinking I’d avoid it forever.
Obviously, growing up in a suburb on Long Island meant I wasn’t really going to avoid the city all that much, but from a young age, I always had my heart set on DC. Manhattan was too big, too loud, too dirty for me- I liked the clean history of DC, the manageable size, the heart of the government.
Spoiler: this story doesn’t end with me moving to New York (yet) as I’ve just solidified myself as a DC resident for at least the next bit of my life. But somewhere along the way, I’ve fallen a little in love with the idea of living in Manhattan. Perhaps it’s because virtually everyone I’ve ever known has lived or worked in the city or maybe it’s that eight years in a more transient city feels like a lot or it could be from watching too many episodes of Girls– I’m not sure of the cause of the sudden draw (but realistically it’s probably pizza related above all else). But as I’ve stated before, with no plans to move myself physically, a nice little escape to an island to the north can be found in many a book.
I’ve had Church of Marvels on my wish list since before it came out with the instructions to myself “READ ASAP”. I’m not sure where I first read about it, but reading the description, I could understand why I put it on there with such eagerness: some old school New York, some interwoven stories, some really good ratings for a new author.
The book beautifully weaves together a few different stories- I knew this going into it, and I’ve really loved books like it in the past. Knowing that the stories connected definitely made me a little more aware of what was going on- I was reading much more vigilantly in the past, looking for connections and trying to remember small details to help me figure out how the characters and the stories merged.
It’s a story that’s stressful at times, but it’s easy to want to understand the characters. Again, reading carefully, I had a bunch of moments of realization that were quite satisfying and the story itself was wonderfully written. While certainly not a typical story of New Yorkers at the turn of the century, there was a strong undercurrent of history throughout. All in all, a lovely and complex book that wasn’t difficult to read, follow or become invested in- READ ASAP is a fairly accurate suggestion.
You’ll like this if: you liked the story structure of We Are Called to Rise, but surrounding full arcs of lives in general as opposed to one central event.
Happy reading!
carlyreads 