Chante JVR

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“Tragedy has a way of breaking gentle things and soldering the shattered pieces together in ways we can’t control. Some, it remakes into stronger, more resilient creatures. In others, the pieces fuse before they heal, leaving only razor-sharp edges.”

Rebecca Yarros’ “The Things We Leave Unfinished” left me feeling torn and somewhat dissatisfied. While the novel was beautiful; emotional intensity and beautifully crafted, there were significant aspects that fell short of my expectations.

Synopsis:

“The Things We Leave Unfinished” by Rebecca Yarros is a novel that weaves together two parallel love stories separated by decades. In one narrative thread, set during World War II, we follow the passionate romance between a pilot, Jameson, and his wife, Scarlett. Their love story unfolds against the backdrop of war, presenting challenges that test the strength of their connection.

The second storyline is set in the present day and centers around a Georgia who, after a brutal divorce, returns home to sort out her late great-grandmother’s estate. One of the loose ends that need to be tied up is her great-grandmother’s last unfinished manuscript based on the whirlwind romance between Scarlett and Jameson. As Georgia pieces together these forgotten pages of history along with Noah, an arrogant but devilishly good-looking writer, she must learn to confront her own demons and any skeletons she might find in her family’s closet.

Noah and Georgia felt lacking and their relationship felt lackluster, especially when compared to Scarlett and Jameson’s. Their relationship felt very insta-love and I actually got confused as to when they started developing feelings for each other. Due to this, a lot of their actions didn’t make sense and their backgrounds and motivations seemed to be glossed over or presented in a way that failed to evoke genuine emotional investment.

One of Georgia’s biggest defining traits were her trust issues and a lot of the story revolved around Noah trying to break through those trust issues. But her trust issues are understandable especially considering everyone (including her great-grandmother who raised her and Noah). To make matters worse, Noah tries to bring her mother back to help them reconcile and her mother just ends up betraying her again.

I loved Scarlett and Jameson with all my heart, but the novel lost me when the big plot twist came around. It went from a 4 star read to a 2 star read in that moment. The side characters were also only included to serve the main characters and felt very two-dimensional.

While Yarros’ writing style is undeniably elegant, it wasn’t enough to salvage the overall reading experience for me. “The Things We Leave Unfinished” had the potential to be a poignant exploration of love, loss, and second chances, but unfortunately, it relied on shock factor and tragedy to deliver on these promises.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider donating to mine and my husband’s immigration fund and help us get to the UK! Even a small amount would mean the world to us.

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