What Remains True: A Novel

Ok

This is not a fun read but it will tug at your heart. The only thing I didn’t like was the narratives of Shadow.

Good read

Not a fan and really don’t understand all the 5 star reviews. The writing was simple and easy, which is fine if you want to breeze through a book- but there were so many points where I rolled my eyes. Details were unbeliable, dialogue that was lame and not realistic whatsoever. No 10 year old says “that’s beast,” just stop. I found the family cheesy in an unrealistic way, not a sweet way, and annoying.

At first I questioned purchasing this book but couldn't put it down. Having lost a son myself I felt it was written perfectly describing a family dealing with a death. Bad things happen to good people. How true.

I could not put this book down. Such an emotional read, I quickly became attached to each character in this book. Definitely one of those books you don’t wat to end. Grab tissues because you’ll need them!

Good story. Response of family to death of child

This will echo many of the other reviews, but this is a very good book. Generally speaking, I prefer not to read first-person novels, but this one uses the technique to illustrate the events from multiple points of view. Each of the family members, including the family dog, the deceased child, and even eventually the therapist discusses what each one sees happening. Ultimately the full story emerges of how the little boy died and why each family member is having such a hard time facing the death. There is a supernatural aspect to the story, as eventually [spoiler alert!] it's the dead child who reveals the full story, eliciting the reasons that explain why each family member feels such guilt, and finally bringing closure to them all.

The writing is good (and I'm picky about that). The characters are all vividly drawn, but it's the dead Jonah who's the most sympathetic. I found Jonah's character to be perhaps a bit unrealistically intelligent, but mostly believable. Be prepared to cry a little, though I didn't find this to be a story that left me in a puddle of tears. The book is a pretty fast read, and I would recommend it to anyone who doesn't have experiences that make stories about a dead child particularly horrific.

This is a compelling story about a family struggling to recover from a terrible loss. The characters are real, and I felt their emotions deeply.

Told from all points of view of a family torn apart by a tragic event, Janis Thomas explores both the joys and the hardships of love.
Be it a child's simple pleasure in day-to-day disoveries, a pre-teen's voyage into friendship and romance, or the tribulations of a thirteen year marriage, Thomas skillfully unspools her story's thread with a measured pace, careful to not give the reader more than they're prepared to handle.
Not only did I cry along with the family members as they dealt with their own guilt, I cheered for them as they learned to move on and love again.