Book Review: The Nature of Small Birds by Susie Finkbeiner

In 1975, three thousand children were airlifted out of Saigon to be adopted into Western homes. When Mindy, one of those children, announces her plans to return to Vietnam to find her birth mother, her loving adoptive family is suddenly thrown back to the events surrounding her unconventional arrival into their lives.

Though her father supports Mindy's desire to meet her family of origin, he struggles privately with an unsettling fear that he'll lose the daughter he's poured his heart into. Mindy's mother undergoes the emotional roller coaster inherent in the adoption of a child from a war-torn country, discovering the joy hidden amid the difficulties. And Mindy's sister helps her sort through relics that whisper of the effect the trauma of war has had on their family--but also speak of the beauty of overcoming.

Told through three strong voices in three compelling timelines, The Nature of Small Birds is a hopeful story that explores the meaning of family far beyond genetic code.

My rating:

Honestly, this book was...a huge letdown. I was soooo excited for this new release by a recent favorite author. But, sadly, it fell completely short of my expectations.

I've read books before with dual timelines, but a triple timeline was completely new to me. In this case, it definitely wasn't a bad thing; it was easy to keep up with, and even though the timelines were from different points of view, the cast of characters remained the same, so I wasn't overrun with names to remember. That was really helpful.

1975. Linda doesn't get along with her mother-in-law, and no one has the guts to stand up to the cantankerous matriarch. Also the year that they adopt an adorable little child.

1988. Sonny is in her late teens, about to graduate high school, needing a new job.

2013. Bruce is enjoying his grandpa life, and wishes everyone could just get along.

Three different people. One family. Reading the story, I was pulled in to the lives of the characters, but I wasn't really connecting, y'know? Like, sure, I liked reading about their lives and stuff, but eventually I had to force myself to finish the book. And I couldn't figure out why...until I realized three things:

This book has almost no plot.

This book has no depth of character.

And this book felt like a waste of time once I finished. *hides*

*Sigh* Maybe I'm just tired as I write this, but I do know that this book was a major disappointment. I kept waiting for the characters to learn something, to mature, to actually do something worth noting...but they didn't. They were shallow, and it felt like I could've read a book about their neighbor down the road and not even miss them for as emotionally invested as I got in the story.

The plot carried the characters—not the other way around—and that, people, does not make for a story that I'll enjoy.

What did I like about the book? Well...I liked Ivan. I liked the setting. I liked the pop culture references (except that the people in this historical novel went to see Frozen in the theater and I feel so old). I appreciated the message, about how we're made to spread our wings and fly, but it just...fell flat.

All in all, not a book that I'll be rereading. But it was cool to learn some historical facts about the Vietnam war that I hadn't known before. ;)

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher for promotional purposes. All thoughts are my own.

Have you ever been disappointed by a book that didn't meet your expectations?