First drawn in by the cover, then by the fact that author was from Brisbane, I purchased a copy and then waited for New Years Eve to roll around, the perfect time to read the book. 

Friendship, family and relationships were strong themes throughout the novel with character development at the forefront. 

What was most unique about this read was the setting of an outback QLD town, not something that features too much in novels. I could picture place very clearly. I also liked that is was different to other books that are about similar subject matter as the story was set after the affair ended, rather than before or during.  Opening up an envelope at the end of the book to read an epilogue was also kind of fun. 

There were a few issues for me in terms of timing and structure (maybe more time stamps throughout the read) and the ending felt sudden as not everything was tied up for me. In addition, there were a lot of characters and broken relationships that didn't feel healed at the end of the novel (Sean, Sylvia, Mickey). 

Overall it was a good to start 2025 with an indie read set in my home state. 

I purchased my copy from The Little Bird Bookshop in Paddington during the LYBSD Book Crawl.