Things that Grow by Meredith Goldstein

It is very human to go to humor when things are sad or frightening. This is captured so, so well in 'Things That Grow'. I totally dig the humor, especially since it was totally relatable. When my granddad died two years ago, my family gravitated towards the same black humor Lori and Seth had (something the undertaker did not understand at all, poor man). Meanwhile, so many emotions, strange choices and other things that come onto our paths in such times are passing by, and not everything can be resolved with jokes.

The only thing I would have liked to be different is the emotional depth of Chris. Around half of the book I knew more about Jessica's emotions, while she had had two short appearances, than of Chris's. I think he could have been fleshed out better, to make him more than a token-best-friend, token-black-person, token-love-interest, especially since he is such an important person to Lori.

I want to thank Netgalley and HMH Books for the chance to read this book.

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