When Life Gives You Mangos

Hi!

I am super happy to be back after my little sick break last week. I was able to do some reading last week during that time and I actually read what might be one of my new favorite books of 2024. We will definitely be talking about that book soon but today we are going to talk about When Life Gives You Mangos, I have had this book on my TBR since before the move and I am super excited that I was finally able to make time to pick it up.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Clara lives on an island with her mom and dad as well as many people she has known her entire life (like the older lady up the road who makes Clara do chores). Clara is kind of the outsider of the group of kids on the island and spends a lot of time hanging out with her uncle. Clara also has problems with her memory. Last summer there was a bad hurricane and ever since Clara has struggled to remember what happened that summer. Sometimes she gets small bits and other times nothing. But she does really want to know what happened, everyone around her knows and it really bothers her not knowing. As time goes by Clara gets more and more upset with the situation and her parents decide after she is caught up at her other uncle’s home (where she is not supposed to be at all, no one is supposed to be there) that the three of them are going to go on a small trip to the city but when they are in the city disaster is posed to strike on their small town and they must return but what about Clara’s memories?

I absolutely enjoyed this story. Clara’s missing memories were the central point of the story but we get to learn so much more about her, her family (the rifts and cracks within the family), and what happened to Clara that one summer. We also get to see how the family and the people on the island react to Clara since the incident last summer. I would love to try more from this author in the future, but in the meantime, I definitely recommend giving this one a try.

Goodreads Rating: 4 Stars