Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson (#105 in 2019)
Before you read anything else, this book was undoubtedly 5 stars⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. Now continue.
Lillian and Madison, unlikely boarding school roommates, become the best of friends before a school-related scandal separates them into their vastly different worlds. Years later, Madison calls on Lillian to help her with something serious. Madison's twin stepchildren, the biological children of her important political husband, are in need of a governess. Madison hopes Lillian will take on the highly compensated job, but she cautions that there is one odd little detail: the twins have a unique medical condition that causes them to spontaneously combust and burst into flames. When Lillian realizes she has nothing else going on in her life, she takes her old roomie up on the offer and agrees to the job, but Lillian is in for a journey she never expected.
Please tell me you all remember the movie Uptown Girls with Brittany Murphy: hot mess young woman becomes a nanny and unexpectedly becomes a prominent figure in the child's life. Now combine that with Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, because there are two children who spontaneously combust, and you have Kevin Wilson's work: Nothing to See Here. Lillian is an incredibly likable character; she's sassy and honest with a serious trucker mouth, but she has feelings that she tries to conceal from the world. When Lillian finds herself in charge of these two unique children, Bessie and Roland, she realizes that she's more than just a chaperone- she's a surrogate parent. Bessie and Roland are initially viewed as children to be feared, but Lillian quickly learns that there's a way to get through to these kids and that path comes from the heart. Kevin Wilson created such a fantastic blend of comedy and drama in this novel with parts that actually made me chuckle and some that had me tearing up with a hand over my heart. There's a much deeper meaning that goes to show how being "weird" is something to be celebrated rather than feared.
I listened to this book entirely on audio and absolutely loved it. The narrator, Marin Ireland, was fantastic and gave such distinct tones to each of the characters providing a very visual element that doesn't come naturally with audiobooks. She was able to accurately convey sarcasm which tied right in with the book's content. It looks like I'm really getting into this genre of "magic realism," and this is currently my first 5 star book of the month and that's in sharp competition with some amazing nonfiction reads. As many of you can tell, I'm a huge sucker for a cyclical ending that wraps up in a neat little bow, so of course this book was perfect. BRAVO to Kevin Wilson for making me fall in love with something new. Now I have to go stalk out his other books!
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