What time of the day do you like best to read? I do most of my reading at night before bed.
In 2008, Lea Johnson is a behavioral researcher who is
struggling to keep her lab going during the downturn in the economy. Even though she is a behavioral researcher,
she is unable to help her husband Jay who was violently attacked by youth
outside their home and no longer is the same man. When a youth disappears that Jay had confronted
outside their new home, did he have something to do with it?
Paul had a hard life growing up. Now as a cop, he is investigating the
disappearance of a local youth when he runs into Lea, who he met as a
youth. As attraction grows between the
two, will they be able to confront issues from the past, figure out the current
mystery, and move forward?
My thoughts on this novel:
· This novel should have some trigger warnings. It had a rough and depressing start that included the violent murder of a beloved pet cat and the grooming and discussion of a sexual assault of a young teenage girl. There was a lot of violence against animals in this book.
· The book is set in Michigan. I grew up in Southwest Michigan and I appreciated the Southeast Michigan setting of the book.
· This was a very well written book, and I loved the language.
· It was interesting the Lea studies the fear response and trauma, but she can’t see and understand the same thing in her husband.
· There was a lot of discussion on the treatment of animal. Lea used mice in her research and her childhood friend Dinah is an animal rights activities. There is a deer cull also happening in Lea’s neighborhood.
· This book explored how trauma impacts relationships and an individual’s future.
· This book is a literary fiction novel and a psychological drama.
· It was a dark and heavy read, but very readable and kept me wondering what was going to happen next.
· The characters were very well written and developed.
· There were interesting book discussion questions at the end of the book that could be used for book clubs.
Overall, The Meaning of Fear by Laura Hulthen Thomas was a very well written psychological drama and literary fiction novel with an interesting mystery and great character development.
Book Source: Thank-you to @laurahulthenthomas
@regal_house_publishing @tlcbooktours for a review copy of this novel as part
of the TLC Book Tour.
