Review: This Is How It Always Is: A Novel

This Is How It Always Is: A Novel by Laurie Frankel
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A well-written and timely story about a family that does it's best, but sometimes even the best isn't enough. Penn and Rosie have a fairytale life. Their "love at first sight" romance blooms and grows into a family with five amazing boys until one of them doesn't want to be a boy - he/she wants to be a girl. Readers watch as Rosie and Penn do all of the right things - they embrace Claude's wants/needs, trust that he/she will figure out what's right, do research, consult professionals, and continue to love their children as they are. But it's not easy to manage a "secret" like this, and ultimately, things explode.

Frankel's writing brought an authentic voice to each of her characters, but I found myself wanting to know more about Poppy's brothers, about their stories that were introduced and then forgotten.

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