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When a family suffers the consequences of an unthinkable act, their trauma, grief, and shame are highlighted in a murder trial. Was a crime committed, or is there more to this story than meets the eye? Near the end, I started asking "where are they now?" about the chimpanzees in the book, which Fouts wrote in 1997. After an internet search, I learned that Dar, Moja, and Washoe have since died, and that Tatu and Loulis are now living at Fauna Foundation in Quebec, only a few hours' drive from where we live now. My daughter and I are now looking at the adopt-a-chimp and membership options at the foundation, and wondering if we can swing a visit.
I'm not sure if the author intentionally wrote Yasmin as vain, vapid, and ... is there a "v" word for flirtatious LOL? Anyways... I just didn't like her and unfortunately it made it hard to empathize at times. Her resentment toward Leila – whom kept her alive and out of the dreaded foster care system – was bizarre? And then there were inconsistencies in Leila's character. At times she was soft-spoken, demure, a real blend into the wallpaper type, and then she showed flashes of ruthlessness, cold-heartedness, shrewdness that were largely unprovoked. Again, maybe this was intentional by the author to create complexity, but it wasn't the type of complexity necessary for this story. Chloe gets a call that her birth mother has had another baby, but isn’t fit to take care of her, so Chloe has the opportunity to step up and take care of her baby sister Willow. When Chloe doesn’t pass the inspection, because of her financial stability so she gets paired with another man trying to get guardianship of his 15 year old brother as part of a new CPS program. These are questions that will be floating in your mind as you read Kia Abdullah’s latest offering, Next of Kin. and as much as i hate additional drama, sometimes the books get boring if the couple gets together too soon. but this book gets better after they said iloveyou 🥺 i could read forever about them dating, parenting and just going on about their days😌😍💖🥰The situation is very heartbreaking and devastating. I can’t imagine going through it in real life. In some situations, a person’s next of kin might need to be identified without input from the person themselves. This can happen when someone is temporarily unable to comment, for example after being suddenly taken ill or having an accident. Should anything happen to a child under the age of 18-years-old, their next of kin would be the person (or people) who has the legal right to take care of them and make decisions for them. Reading Fouts' book emphasized all of these feelings I was already having. It was a very emotional read. Historical fiction that is also a thriller, NEXT OF KIN is set in England during 1936, when Edward VIII was King of England and then abdicated the throne. At the same time as his birthright was being discussed all over the world, when he might have felt that it was being stolen from him, another man, Owen Montignac, is SURE that HIS birthright was stolen from HIM.
Leila Syed’s brother-in-law calls her one morning right before she leaves for work, asking her if she has time to drop her nephew, Max, off at the nursery. It’s “practically on the way” to her office. She agrees. Leila was supposed to drop Max off that morning. But she forgot. Racing to the carpark, she grasps the horror of what she has done.
What is next of kin? Who is your next of kin legally in the UK?
Awe, humor, humility, and sadness are on display in the story of Washoe, the first signing chimpanzee. Fouts takes you into the world of Washoe and her family and traces his journey from a naïve young scientist who never thought about the ethics involved in the 1970s rush to raise baby chimps in human families, to a seasoned advocate for chimpanzees both in captivity and the wild. this was so cute, it’s a slow burn but so sweet romance about two people trying their best for their own families and making their own, blended family in the process. and the banter between these too is so cute. Since raising her younger sister for most of their formative years, Leila Syed has tried to make a name for herself. Now a successful architect in London, Leila remains busy with her life, but is still fairly close to Yasmin. When Leila receives a call from her brother-in-law, Andrew, asking that she help by taking young Max to nursery, Leila obliges and collects Max for the short drive. Only later, when Andrew calls to say that Max never arrived at the nursery, does Leila realise her horrible mistake. Young Max was left inside her vehicle for the entire time, on the hottest day of the year.
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