Title: The Leaving year

Author: Pam McGaffin

Page count: 352

Published: Aug 14, 2018

Publisher: SparkPress

Genre: Historical Fiction / YA

Received: From Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Rating:  3.5/5

Summary:

A coming-of-age YA novel about the daughter of a Pacific Northwest fisherman, whose presumed drowning in 1967 has her searching for answers, including whether or not he’s really dead.

As the Summer of Love comes to an end, 15-year-old Ida Petrovich waits for a father who never comes home. While commercial fishing in Alaska, he is lost at sea, but with no body and no wreckage, Ida and her mother are forced to accept a “presumed” death that tests their already strained relationship. While still in shock over the loss of her father, Ida overhears an adult conversation that shatters everything she thought she knew about him. This prompts her to set out on a search for the truth that takes her from her Washington State hometown to Southeast Alaska, where she works at a salmon cannery, develops love for a Filipino classmate, and befriends a Native Alaskan girl. In this wild, rugged place, she also begins to understand the physical and emotional bonds that took her father north and why he kept them secret—a journey of discovery that ultimately brings her family together and helps them heal. Insightful and heartfelt, The Leaving Year is a tale of love and loyalty, family and friendship, and the stories we tell ourselves in our search for meaning

My Thoughts:

I’m not really a fan of historical fiction but being a YA book, I thought that I would give this a try since I read Fawkes and really enjoyed the magic element in that one.

This on the other hand had more of an emotional side. It was beautifully written, I was intrigued from the first chapter. It was a little on the slow side but that didn’t bother me to much in this case. This book is set in the late 1060’s and to think that things happened back then is crazy because we really only think of the year that we were born and beyond, anything past that is odd.

This book goes on Ida’s journey after hearing that her father is presumed to be lost at sea after she over hears a conversation what her mom is having. Her mom and dad have been keeping secrets from her due to this she decides to leave an get the answers that she is looking for.

I did have one issue with this book. I didn’t feel connected to Ida until the second half of the book. That being said I still enjoyed it.

This kind of reminded me of The Long Way Home Series by Jasinda Wilder when Ava’s husband Christian gets lost at sea.