Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah is an adult fiction book about a wild girl and the town who saves her.
With one tragic case, Dr. Julia Cates’ career is ruined. As a leading child psychiatrists, her patients were her life and now that they have abandoned her, Julia is left aimless and without purpose… that is until tragedy strikes her hometown.
At the request–order–of her prom-queen big sister, who just happens to be police chief, Julia returns to the small, backwater town, she thought she’d left behind. But when a six-year-old, “wild child” appears out of nowhere, seemingly from deep in the woods, Julia may be the only one who can help her.
Will Julie be able to reacquaint this extraordinary child with the world she was born into? Will being back home bring back bad memories of her own? And will outside influences get in her way?
Kristin Hannah always brings the feels. Some of her books I can really connect to and then others are just a good read. This one toed the line between the two. I felt for Alice and those who cared for her but not enough to get emotional. I think one of the reasons for this was the ending. Yes, I’m happy with how it ended but it felt both a little too clean and unrealistic.
I did love Julia’s inner dialogue when it came to her interactions with Alice. I though this was really great. And I wished Max’s story came out just a smidgen more. In terms of logistics, I sort of wondered if the whole process of finding Alice, the authorities, the press, etc. were realistic. Like would child services or higher ranking government agencies really bowed to a small town police force? Just curious.
Overall, this was a quick read and I enjoyed how some of the lines were connect throughout the story. Not my favorite Hannah novel but I did get through it pretty quickly, so that has to tell you something. This one gets 4 stars from me.
That’s all for now!
-M-