Bonds that Beckon by Kelli Kimble
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a story of acceptance, belonging and how not belonging can cause a lot of trouble, both for the individual and those around them.

Iris has just moved to Salvation with her parents, it is a close knit community where everyone knows everyone else, they have a close bond with each other and will do anything to protect what they have. She is seventeen and wants a normal life, but she just doesn’t fit in no matter how much she tries and history is repeating itself as usual when being different isn’t something any teenager wants.

Then one day as she is cycling home from school, she gets a flat tire, as she is deciding to walk home with it and dreading it, she is approached by a stranger in a flatbed truck who offers her a lift home, as she is considering the offer, the man introduces himself as Mr Anu and he won’t take no for an answer, so Iris accepts his offer and as they speak during the drive, Mr Anu asks whether there are any local boys who would like to help him out at his farm, Iris says she will ask, although not having friends is going to make that difficult, she gets the details of the offer and after Mr Anu drops Iris off at the corner of her street, she thanks him and starts to head home.

The next thing she knows is that another truck pulls alongside her filled with some of the local boys and one in particular insists on helping her with her bicycle, he is rather pushy and again, doesn’t take no for an answer. Iris escapes by going inside, but he hangs outside the house holding her bicycle until her father arrives home, starts making polite conversation and gets himself an invite to dinner. Over dinner Iris is feeling more and more uncomfortable and is trying to be polite until Gary leaves, but not without making her feel as uncomfortable as it gets.

As Iris is trying to tell her parents what happened, she is dismissed as not being polite and heaving no manners, but talk moves onto college and her future, but her father says that she shouldn’t go to college, but get a job instead and settle down, this is where Iris has the idea to take on the work at Mr Anu’s farm and her parents agree to it, although they aren’t impressed when they find out what kind of works she is doing. As Iris finds that she is happiest when working for and with Mr Anu, he talks about his past and her own past and herself, these questions lead to an unforeseen answer to why she feels different and in the meantime, at school Gary is becoming more pushy and still not taking no for an answer.

This is where things take a turn for the worse and the town’s loyalties come to the fore when Iris makes a choice with terrible consequences and the whole town bands against her and her family. What will happen to Iris and her family, are the consequences she faces going to impact others as well as herself? Will the town ever leave them alone and will this new knowledge about her past and future become a part of her and those around her, or rip her world apart?

Reviewed by @roxsannel

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