Review of House of Dads
Posted: 28 Aug 2021, 15:27
[Following is a volunteer review of "House of Dads" by June Gillam.]
House of Dads: A Hillary Broome Novel is the second book in a series but can be read as a standalone work. It follows Hillary Broome and some of her extended family who own Broome Construction, an ever-expanding, lucrative business. The story begins at a family funeral where another tragedy occurs – but was this a sad accident or a gruesome crime? Violet Broome takes control of the family business, trying to feel comfortable in the position she’s always wanted but never been allowed to prepare for. The rest of the story focuses on Violet’s struggles, and Hillary’s and Ed’s attempts to determine if there is a crime to solve.
Throughout the work were themes related to family, a sense of belonging, and being needed by others. Most characters had absent family members, which affected how they approached several events that occurred in the story. Other characters had family members who were against them. Several of the characters just wanted to find somewhere to belong with people who accepted them. June Gillam did such a wonderful job weaving these themes throughout the mystery of the story, creating characters that had depth and were relatable. Despite these common themes connecting the characters, they were all completely different, with varied motivations and quirks, making each character feel realistic and individual.
I will admit, when I first picked up this book, I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it. The title of the book was off-putting for me, but I was surprised at how quickly I got sucked into the story. There were several places throughout the work where the wording used was awkward, making me have to read the sentence a few times before I understood what was meant. They weren’t technically errors, but a little rewording would help. There were only a couple errors throughout the whole work, and it felt well-edited overall.
Since there was a mystery involved in this work, the author added some misdirection and dead ends – some of these didn’t feel fleshed out though and left more questions than answers when the book ended. One of these was important enough that it should have been addressed more thoroughly near the end of the work to complete that storyline instead of being completely dropped.
Overall, I give House of Dads: A Hillary Broome Novel a 4 out of 4 stars rating. There were a few things that I felt could have been better with the work, but these things were negligible. The story drew me in right away and all of the characters were extremely well-written. Gillam also wove a few themes throughout the story that added to its depth, creating a well-rounded work. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes stories about mystery, family drama, or navigating relationships. There was only a little bit of profanity and a couple mild sexual encounters, so this work would also be suitable for teens.
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House of Dads
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
House of Dads: A Hillary Broome Novel is the second book in a series but can be read as a standalone work. It follows Hillary Broome and some of her extended family who own Broome Construction, an ever-expanding, lucrative business. The story begins at a family funeral where another tragedy occurs – but was this a sad accident or a gruesome crime? Violet Broome takes control of the family business, trying to feel comfortable in the position she’s always wanted but never been allowed to prepare for. The rest of the story focuses on Violet’s struggles, and Hillary’s and Ed’s attempts to determine if there is a crime to solve.
Throughout the work were themes related to family, a sense of belonging, and being needed by others. Most characters had absent family members, which affected how they approached several events that occurred in the story. Other characters had family members who were against them. Several of the characters just wanted to find somewhere to belong with people who accepted them. June Gillam did such a wonderful job weaving these themes throughout the mystery of the story, creating characters that had depth and were relatable. Despite these common themes connecting the characters, they were all completely different, with varied motivations and quirks, making each character feel realistic and individual.
I will admit, when I first picked up this book, I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it. The title of the book was off-putting for me, but I was surprised at how quickly I got sucked into the story. There were several places throughout the work where the wording used was awkward, making me have to read the sentence a few times before I understood what was meant. They weren’t technically errors, but a little rewording would help. There were only a couple errors throughout the whole work, and it felt well-edited overall.
Since there was a mystery involved in this work, the author added some misdirection and dead ends – some of these didn’t feel fleshed out though and left more questions than answers when the book ended. One of these was important enough that it should have been addressed more thoroughly near the end of the work to complete that storyline instead of being completely dropped.
Overall, I give House of Dads: A Hillary Broome Novel a 4 out of 4 stars rating. There were a few things that I felt could have been better with the work, but these things were negligible. The story drew me in right away and all of the characters were extremely well-written. Gillam also wove a few themes throughout the story that added to its depth, creating a well-rounded work. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes stories about mystery, family drama, or navigating relationships. There was only a little bit of profanity and a couple mild sexual encounters, so this work would also be suitable for teens.
******
House of Dads
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon