The Story of Our Secrets - Shari Low

Reading Challenge Category: Free ARC from NetGalley

Official Blurb:

Colm O’Flynn was loved by his close circle of family and friends, however his death came too soon for everyone to make peace with their past.
Shauna, his second wife, adored him. But one night she broke their marriage vows, and didn’t get time to ask Colm’s forgiveness.
Jess was the first Mrs O’Flynn. Her heart is set on someone new, but will the last one night stand she shared with Colm come back to haunt her?
Colm’s best friend, Dan, is recently divorced. Can he take a second shot at happiness if it means betraying the one person who always had his back?
What no-one knows is that somewhere out there Colm left messages that could set them free to start over again.
Can divine intervention help them find Colm’s last wishes before it’s too late to love again?

My Thoughts:

So, this will be a really difficult review for me to write as I just didn’t enjoy this. That is hard for me to say, as Colm’s story in ‘The Story of our Life’ really hit me in the feels and had tears tripping down my face for the majority of it. I think that may have even been the first Shari Low book I had ever read, and I’ve been hooked ever since. I also still remember it, which is a big thing for me as I have a memory like a sieve when it comes to most books. However, that one has stuck with me over the past couple of years!
This book is set five years later and shows us the aftermath of Colm dying and how his wife, family and friends have been coping without him and with their grief. Even though it was nice to see these characters again, I’m not sure this story was necessary (which is why this review is difficult for me).
I just didn’t feel the raw emotion that I am used to from Low. There were the usual one-liners of humour, but they didn’t make me laugh out loud like I normally would. I just felt like I had to get through the book as the deadline for its release was fast approaching.
After reading some of the other reviews, I know I am in the minority with this view, and I’m sorry that I just wasn’t feeling it. I just felt like the story was a bit flat, and most of it could have been covered in a few chapters of another book with other more interesting characters. We are only getting Shauna’s point of view, interspersed with Colm from 2016, and I think it may have played out better if we could have heard from Jess, Lulu and Dan as well. It might have given it a little more depth having their voices first hand.
I’m afraid I found this a little boring and unnecessary. I usually rush off to tell my mother-in-law when Shari Low has a new book coming out. I know she has read Colm’s story too, but I’m not sure whether to recommend this to her or not. I’ll probably let her know it exists and let her make her own mind up.
So, for me, I’m afraid this was just a bit of a none-book, and I’m gutted I didn’t enjoy it the way the author had intended.