Imperfect People

The Peculiar Gift of July
By Ashley Ream
Publisher: Dutton
Publication date: July 1, 2025
Print length: 416 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0593853726
 

Publisher’s Blurb:

With a dash of magic and a cast of oddball, small-town characters, this feel-good novel explores forgiveness, family, and the sense of humor it takes to live with the ones we love the most.

Ebey’s End is a small town on an island off the Pacific coast, reachable only by ferry (assuming the gods are with you and it’s not a Tuesday). It’s a comfortable, familiar (but okay, fine, sometimes lonely) life for its resident grocer Anita Odom. That is, until fourteen-year-old July shows up on her doorstep.

Taking in the recently orphaned daughter of an estranged cousin had not been on Anita’s to-do list. In fact, it’s a terrible idea. Anita is ill-suited, ill-prepared, and absolutely certain the entire enterprise will end in disaster—for both of them.

From the moment she arrives, July seems to “know” what each customer at the Island Grocery needs. They’re small things: a housekeeping magazine slipped into old Mr. Daly’s basket or a coconut cream pie pressed into the hands of Pastor Chet. But one by one, these gifts start to change the lives of nearly everyone in town in ways much larger than they—or July—could have imagined.

It's not long before secrets are exposed and questions emerge, and everyone in Ebey’s End has to open their hearts a little wider to make room for it all.

 My Thoughts:

This is my first book by Ashley Ream. It won’t be my last. She has the same sense for imperfect people that Fredrik Backman and Catherine Ryan Hyde have, and I am here for it.

 This time, it’s loner and borderline misanthrope Anita, who suddenly finds herself in charge of her late cousin’s adopted daughter, July. July has a…knack…for knowing what people need, things they don’t even realize they need (or will soon need). Her filling those needs sets many things into motion on their little (not real) island in Washington’s San Juans.

 Although the book is named for July, and she’s an important character, there are many important characters in this book. So many people with needs. Thanks to July, people’s lives are made easier in countless small and large ways.

 There are a variety of conflicts and difficult moments in this book. It is how those moments are met and dealt with that gives the book its heart and soul. It’s a story of imperfect people living imperfect and often difficult lives, but there is love, and hope, and beauty here.

 Possible Objectionable Material:

Swearing, including the f-word. Infidelity. Homosexuality.

 Who Might Like This Book:

If you like Backman or Hyde, definitely try this one. If you like stories about imperfect people doing the best they can, try this.

 Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

 #ThePeculiarGiftOfJuly #NetGalley #AshleyReam #BookReview #MagicalRealism