This is a story about crop circles – yes, those otherworldly designs that appear in fields of corn or wheat. This plot line provides the basis for a greater story both Daniel Green, the crop circler, and the family he creates it for.

This is ultimately a story about family and forgiveness. There’s a bit of symbolism in the design that Daniel creates, where circles intersect and overlap each other, just as the stories overlay and intersect each other. As such, the story is told from multiple points of view, primarily by Daniel, Molly (the wife of the farmer who hires Daniel), and Nessa, Molly and Sam’s daughter. Boyce does well to balance the voices so no one story outweighs the other, and she handles the switching of narrators well.

There is a lot of emotional stuff going on here: terminal illness, the fallout of infidelity, addiction, the effect of psychological issues on both the sufferer and those around them, and multiple strained parent-child relationships, the search for forgiveness and the sacrifices we make for others. (I did tell you that you’d need a tissue or two.)

I don’t want to give any spoilers, but there is a passage about one character’s illness, and the imagery of a pebble in a shoe is perfection. There is raw honesty in the exchanges.

While I wouldn’t call this a light and cheery book, The Fifteen Wonders of Daniel Green IS a beautifully told tale. The characters are real and flawed. Details and hints are dropped left and right, but they don’t begin to fall together at first. Instead, the pieces slowly tumble and roll around until they spill together in this incredible mosaic of a story.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for providing me with an advance copy of this book. All opinions (and typos) are my own. ( )

Sweet. I enjoyed my travels with all the characters. ( )

4.5 stars
What an endearing debut of a book! ( )

I read this book quickly and really enjoyed the relationships between the characters. I felt for Nessa on so many levels throughout the book and probably identified with her the most. I also felt invested in the marriage of Sam and Molly. Besides Nessa, their marriage was one of my favorite aspects of the story, I love the way the author provided back story on their marriage and the way they loved each other. Boyce did a great job fleshing out each of the characters and make them relatable.

The crop circle aspect was interesting and not something I have ever read about in a book before. I have only heard vague things on conspiracy shows about crop circles, but honestly never thought much about it.

This was a touching story about family, grief, marriage, forgiveness and the power of community. It dealt with issues such as alcoholism and mental health. I would recommend it.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own. ( )

I'm so glad that I took a chance on reading an advance copy of this debut novel; I absolutely loved it. It was beautifully written, and I liked everything about it. The crop circles provided a unique plotline, and I enjoyed learning about them. The story dealt with many issues including terminal illness and its effect on the whole family, chronic psychological problems, infidelity, and parent-child relationships. I liked the narration switching among the characters; I think it helped the reader get into their heads. All of the characters had complex challenges in their lives, and the author made all of them very interesting. She did a great job satisfying my curiosity about what would likely happen to all of them. I appreciated the description of the farming community and how it responded to the family. I also liked seeing the family's reaction to being on the receiving end of help from their neighbors.

I think this would make a wonderful choice for book discussion groups. I would highly recommend it to all readers. I look forward to reading more from Erica Boyce. ( )