Home By K. Carr

A story for us lovers who have hornets in our heads.

Home can be simply described as a story about a woman finding redemption with her family. Home by K. Carr has been one of my favorite reads because it is more than just a romance novel filled with literary realism. The audience can easily see themselves in this world. K. Carr does their very best at avoiding plot fillers and having the characters do outlandish things that do not seem in kilter with the specific character’s personality.

By avoiding this, K. Carr allows the readers to experience the feeling of a plot naturally progressing while still managing to keep the audience guessing. This progression offers the reader a slow-burn feeling when reading the book.The main female protagonist, Charlie, is a prime example of this. Charlie Sutton is easily one of the most likable and relatable characters I have ever read. The book opens with Charlie living abroad and having to go back home to the United Kingdom because she received a message from her child.

The reader learns early that not only is Charlie a mother of two young boys but is a wife as well. This revelation helps the reader understand the gravity of what Charlie was doing abroad and why she left her family behind. Before the reader can judge Charlie too harshly, K. Carr shows us something not found too often in characters in the fiction genre: accountability.Charlie takes complete responsibility for how her actions hurt her loved ones regardless if she felt justified in some of them.

Charlie’s actions become even more understandable once we learn the full story surrounding her leaving. It also becomes easier to put oneself in her shoes as the reader learns more about her husband, and how he views her and reacts to stressful situations. Alec is not an unlikeable man, and no one can deny how much love exists within their family. However, Charlie and Alec’s relationship is an example of love is not always enough. Home is a beautiful book because it shows what happens when trauma is not addressed before forming relationships and families.

The reader can see this reflected through the types of relationships Charlie has with the people around her. Charlie and Alec fell in love as teenagers and had their first child by twenty. They were married straight out of high school. Their age limited how much potential they not only saw in themselves but in each other. It is also clear that their differences in familial upbringing affected their relationship. Charlie is a product of the foster care system and has never known her biological parents.

Her trauma from being constantly placed in new homes made it so that by the time she got to high school, she completely ignored the family that genuinely wanted her as a daughter. They tried their best to help her make the right and mature decisions. Sadly, their love came too late for a teenage Charlie to appreciate or want. Instead, she put all of that love into Alec which she seems to regret. Charlie hints that it is something she wished she had done differently because she now sees things with the eyes of a parent. At some point, the reader starts to hope that Charlie does not go back with Alec.

This is because of how immature he seems in comparison to her. He does not mean to be manipulative, but his ignorance of his wife’s feelings allows him to be blind to how much he influences her. For example, he does not want Charlie to learn about her birth parents because he is afraid she will find out they are bad people. When Charlie tells Alec she wants to know for medical reasons, he tells her that their son’s illness more than likely comes from his side because Alec is white.

However true this may or may not be, what he says is dismissive of her wants. He does not take into account that Charlie may want to find out more about her familial lineage to better understand her mental illness and how that could affect her children and future generations. Alec just flat out refuses to support her in knowing an unknown part of her, and does not consider what it must have been like to grow up as a foster child. It never really clicks in him that she always agrees with him and avoids fights because as a foster kid, she always got sent away when she spoke up for herself. He also makes it clear he does not like her foster parents being in their kids’ lives because the foster mother once encouraged Charlie to focus on her studies and not him.

However, this is a story of redemption. As we watch Charlie grow into a new woman, the same happens for Alec, whom the reader slowly begins to root for. “Home” by K. Carr is a book that I would recommend for those who want to read a more mature romance. It is not steamy by any means, nor is the love story that is filled with whiplashing drama to keep you entertained. The lack of page-turning drama is the one weakness of this book. It is not a book you will read in one sitting because it is so slow that one is easily bored. However, the writing style, plot, and character development are more than enough to bring you back to the book.

Characters and characterization: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
World-building and setting:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Plot and development:⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Pacing: ⭐⭐⭐/5
Writing style:⭐⭐⭐/5
Overall score: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

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