Review: Broken Branches by M. Jonathan Lee

Title: Broken Branches
Author: M. Jonathan Lee
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Hideaway Falls
Publish Date: July 27, 2017
Source: Publisher

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "'Family curses don't exist. Sure, some families seem to suffer more pain than others, but a curse? An actual curse? I don't think so.'

A family tragedy was the catalyst for Ian Perkins to return to the isolated cottage with his wife and young son. But now they are back, it seems yet more grief might befall the family.

There is still time to act, but that means Ian must face the uncomfortable truth about his past. And in doing so, he must uncover the truth behind the supposed family curse.
My Two Cents:

"Broken Branches" of the story of Ian who moves himself, his wife, and his son back to the home that he grew up in. Ian's past has been marred by a family curse that has brought unspeakable tragedy to several generations of his family. Ian believes that his immediate family may find itself marred by the next tragedy.

The book explores the family curse in two parallel timelines. We get insight into what happened to Ian's family when he was a young child. We also see how his family is now and how they have been affected by the tragedies throughout time. I loved getting the background and liked the way the author was able to show that things were not always the way that Ian initially saw them, which calls into question many details about the curse.

While the storyline is interesting and I appreciated the blur between the real and the perceived, there were definitely some parts where I wanted to feel a part of the book a little more. The dual timeline does get a bit confusing, especially toward the end of the book, which made it hard to get through. I was kept going by having to see what happened at the end and whether or not Ian and his family would be able to keep the curse contained. This book has a distinctly gothic feel but set in modern times, which was very interesting and made for a solid read.