Five Stars for The Encore: Book Review

Juliet Izon’s "The Encore" is like pressing on a bruise — it’s tender and sometimes even a little raw, yet it feels oddly good to keep poking it, as a gentle progress check on the path to healing.

And make no mistake, there’s a lot of healing that needs to be done in this book. This story follows two estranged friends and an adopted girl searching for both identity and belonging.

At its heart, "The Encore" is about a fractured family finding their way back together while wading through emotional minefields and mistakes. Izon’s character development is strong — real humans with real blind spots — and it’s easy to root for them, even when you’re cringing at their choices (which is especially true in the case of rock musician Anna).

The Encore carries several heavy themes, including coming-of-age identity, addiction, adoption, and the weight of dysfunctional family dynamics, but it balances that with the possibility of family forgiveness. There’s a strong “this would translate well on screen” vibe, and I found myself mentally wandering off to consider who I would cast in it.

My one complaint is the ending. I won’t go into too much detail here so that I can steer clear of any spoilers, but I will add that it lands with one of my least favorite “happily ever after” tropes. I wondered if it would go there, and hoped it wouldn’t because it felt both too cliché and a little too "pretty" for the messy emotional muck and character growth we went through to get there.

Still, that’s a small point of contention for a book that overall was a fantastic read. Mia Hutchinson Shaw and Carly Larson knock it out of the park with narration and easily bring the characters to life.

Read this if you like family dramas with strong character development, messy-but-likable people, rise-to-riches stories, coming-of-age novels, and a light touch on darker emotional themes.

Thank you to Hachette Audio, Juliet Izon, and NetGalley for an advance listening copy for honest review.

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