For starters, I think this book ought to be nominated for some kind of ‘blurb least resembling the book’s content’ award.
Secondly, there’s that first-novel thing where the author tries to cram everything in – deaths, abusive relationships, religion, controlling inlaws, pregnancy, abortion, widowhood, homosexuality, dead siblings, traumatic childhoods, HIV, the whole kit and caboodle.
That said, something about it kept me turning the pages, even as I failed to engage with the characters.