Trigger warnings: Military violence and war themes, racism, slavery

6/10, after reading This is My Song made by the same author which bored me I was hoping that his newest book I know of might be even better, the concept was interesting as well but unfortunately it didn't go so well and it was tedious to read, where do I begin. It begins with a character named Tom Stott who after a few years decides to enlist in the war in 1915 where he first landed in Egypt then Gallipoli. His story ends horribly however when an artillery shell kills him then suddenly it cuts to a different story in a different time period not long after Tom's death, these sudden cuts happen a lot within this and I found it to be not too confusing since at least it goes forward in time. The book is set in the 1920s now with a new character Will Clifford living his life in peace and nothing much happens there maybe due to the fact that it was kind of a filler story.

There's another cut as the novel focuses on new characters called Maolioso and her sister whose nickname is Bubbles and she was an interesting character for me mainly due to the way she spoke, she lived with her family in Ireland when after a few pages some immigrate to Australia but I didn't like this part because of the family's racism and stereotypes towards Black people and First Australians, I even saw one person mentioning that they own a slave. Come on, how does that still exist in the 1940s unless it wasn't abolished, I don't really know however a generation later the spotlight is shone upon Deborah who lives in the 1960s with her family who opposed the US intervention in the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement but why would they oppose equal rights for everyone. Not long after they immigrate to America and soon the final character called Noah arrives and this by far was the best part in this since they finally found out who Tom Stott was in the 1980s wrapping up the book nicely, however if I didn't find myself bored by the not really developed characters I would've enjoyed it more. ( )

In 1914, Tom Stott falls in love with Gracie O’Donnell, but their love is thwarted by circumstance and war. Tom finds himself part of the blood-soaked landings at Gallipoli, while Gracie marries another. A deception, born in a place and time on the brink of war, traverses the world as successive generations seek freedom in a century of change. It isn’t until American teen Noah Cliford joins his mother Deborah, his grandfather Will and his great-grandmother Gracie in Australia that the secrets of the past are revealed, secrets that will take them back to the beaches of Gallipoli… From multi-award winning author, Richard Yaxley, comes a story of connectedness, family and the power of truth. (PUBLISHERS REVIEW)
The only issue I had with this book was you became attached to the characters and then you were moved forward in time to a setting where the character was no longer alive or was not featured as prominently as an older character in the book.