Review: Little Big Love by Katy Regan

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☆☆➹⁀☆ 4 stars ☆➹⁀☆☆

What It’s About:

About a Boy meets Parenthood in this smart, big-hearted love story about a family for whom everything changed one night, a decade ago, and the young boy who unites them all.

Told through the eyes of Zac, Juliet, and grandfather Mick, Little Big Love is a layered, heartfelt, utterly satisfying story about family, love, and the secrets that can define who we are.

My Thoughts:

Zac has always wondered why his dad left, and on one fateful night when his mother says his dad was the love of her life, he decides to find his father and bring his family back together. Set in a fishing town on the coast of England, Little Big Love is the story of a broken but loving family. There are deep family secrets and complicated fibs to cover those secrets. Zac’s mother and grandparents are filled with rage, grief, and guilt. The complex situation makes Zac’s find-dad mission even more difficult.

Zac, his mother, Juliet, and his maternal grandfather, Mick are the narrators of Little Big Love. Author Katy Regan superbly intertwines these three voices. While not all of her characters are completely likable, they are quite believable. I did love the innocence of ten-year-old Zac and his best friend, Teagan.

Ms. Regan tackles some hard topics (i.e., childhood obesity, bullying, addiction, shoplifting, poor living conditions and childhood illness), but she does so with a dash of humor and a dollop of panache. Her last-minute twist was quite shocking!

I was not enamored with many of the adults and their behavior, but overall, Little Big Love is a sweet, hopeful-yet-sad tale of love within an imperfect family. Pushing through the somewhat slow start, will be rewarded with a big finish.