When Tomorrow Came by Hannah Linder

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Book Review of When Tomorrow Came by Hannah Linder

I’ve been rocking the historical fiction genre lately! I have read a bunch of them, and they’ve been great! So, when I first started reading When Tomorrow Came by Hannah Linder, I had such high hopes! Did this book meet my high expectations? Keep reading my review to find out!

Blurb:

They Waited Their Whole Lives for Their Papa to Return

Nan and Heath Duncan, siblings abandoned by their papa and abused by their guardian, have no choice but to survive on the London streets. When a kind gentleman rescues Nan from such a life, the siblings are separated and raised in two vastly different social worlds. Just when both are beginning to flourish and years have healed some of their wounds, their long-awaited papa returns and reunites them—bringing demands with him. Nan is expected to marry a rich suitor she’s never liked, and Heath is expected to forsake his gentle spirit and become the hardened man his father always was.

Dangers unfold, secret love develops, fights ensue, and murder upsets the worlds Heath and Nan have built for themselves.

They’ve waited their whole lives for their papa to return, for tomorrow to come—but now that it has, will they be able to see through to the truth and end this whirlwind of a nightmare before it costs one of their lives?

My Book Review:

This book starts out so strongly. Nan and Heath are just kids. They’re so little and they are living in a crate covered by a ratty blanket on the streets of London. They have run away from their “caregiver” because she abuses them instead of caring for them as she was hired by their father to do. He has gone away to work but tells them he’ll be home “today or tomorrow.” This part pulled at my momma heartstrings!

Even though they are very young, they still know they need to stick together and work together or they will not survive. Heath does his best to find or steal food for him and his little sister to eat. One day, Heath goes out to find food and asks Nan to stay in their little, makeshift home. She’s so little. She just wants to dance and sing.

She doesn’t pay attention and ends up getting hit by a carriage. The kind man that was driving the carriage picks her up and takes her to an inn where she can rest and heal. Nan feels devastated that he’s taken her away from Heath. Unbeknownst to her, Heath has followed and knows where she is. Heath feels heartbroken because he knows he cannot provide for her as this man can. Heath does not come to pick up Nan, so the kind man takes her home and he and his wife raise her as their own.

At this point in the story, I fell in love with Nan and Heath. My heart broke for them and their awful situation. I loved learning about Nan’s life with the Stanhope family. The characters felt life-like and were well written. I enjoyed the descriptions of the people, countryside, daily life, and activities.

Sadly, a certain event occurs, and everything changes for the characters. My interest changed as well. I finished the book, but it went downhill for me. As she got older, Nan became less relatable and less likable. She made some very poor decisions and was kind of bratty. I couldn’t believe the loyalty she felt for one of the characters that had completely mistreated her.

Several characters show their true selves, and they are not pretty. Or handsome. A few scenes made me feel uncomfortable and filled with dread. Even with the characters I liked, things got weird. The story got darker and darker. I felt yuckier and yuckier as I read.

The story also felt choppy and confusing in parts. One thing I felt was missing was Mr. and Mrs. Stanhope’s feelings and points of view. It bothered me that Nan gave more loyalty to this other character than she did to the parents that had cared for her. I didn’t like the plot or story line at all. I ended up not liking most of the characters, either. Sadly, When Tomorrow Came is not for me. If you like dark and twisted tales, you may enjoy it. I’m sad because I wanted to like it—it started off so well!

Content Rating: R

Profanity: Minor
Intimacy: Excessive (There are two everything-but rape scenes, a married couple wakes up in bed together, and some very passionate kissing.)
Violence: Excessive (Murder, kidnapping, abuse, alcoholism.)