Far From The Tree by Robin Benway

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 384 

Publisher: Simon and Schuster Children's UK 

Released: 8th of February 2018 

Being the middle child has its ups and downs.

But for Grace, an only child who was adopted at birth, discovering that she is a middle child is a different ride altogether. After putting her own baby up for adoption, she goes looking for her biological family, including—

Maya, her loudmouthed younger bio sister, who has a lot to say about their newfound family ties. Having grown up the snarky brunette in a house full of chipper redheads, she’s quick to search for traces of herself among these not-quite-strangers. And when her adopted family’s long-buried problems begin to explode to the surface, Maya can’t help but wonder where exactly it is that she belongs.

And Joaquin, their stoic older bio brother, who has no interest in bonding over their shared biological mother. After seventeen years in the foster care system, he’s learned that there are no heroes, and secrets and fears are best kept close to the vest, where they can’t hurt anyone but him. 

What I Have to Say 

This was a touching story about family in all shapes and sizes. It looked at the ups and downs of adoption and fostering and the importance of finding your place in it all, whatever stage you're at. It was really interesting to see the three siblings meeting each other for the first time and how they got along. I felt this book did a good balance of showing the biological siblings and the adopted families and how it affected them all. 

Relationships are a massive part of this book. The relationships in Maya's family and especially the relationship between her and her sister were interesting. Being the adopted daughter in a family of redheads cannot be easy. It was also good to see her sister's reaction to her looking for her birth mum. 

The character's felt really realistic. I got very invested in them and wanted them to succeed. Joaquin broke my heart a few times with his various issues with his foster parents. They were just so perfect for him but he couldn't see past his fear that they would send him back. 

This was touching, very emotional but so, so good. I definitely want to look out for this author in the future. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for providing me with this copy for review.