Beauty and the Blacksmith (Spindle Cove, Book 3.5): Tessa Dare

"Beautiful and elegant, Miss Diana Highwood is destined to marry a wealthy, well-placed nobleman. At least that's what her mother has loudly declared to everyone in Spindle Cove.

"But Diana's not excited by dukes and lords.  The only man who makes her heart pound is the village blacksmith, Aaron Dawes.  By birth and fortune, they couldn't be more wrong for each other...but during stolen, steamy moments in the smithy, his strong hands feel so right.

"Is their love forged strong enough to last, or are they just playing with fire?"

This was a very short and sweet mini-story by Tessa Dare; therefore, it seems only fitting that my review be short and sweet as well.  It's no secret that I'm a great fan of Dare's writing.  She has a knack for creating vivid characters, fun and interesting plots, and entrancing scenes.

I found this short story to be far more interesting and better written than the first short story in this series (Once Upon a Winter's Eve).  I felt that the characters were more interesting and the love story between them was more fun and captivating.  I really enjoyed Aaron as a male lead and it was nice to see Diana in a story of her own - having seen her in a few of the other Spindle Cove books.  I definitely liked Diana more than I thought I would; I don't know why, but I was sure I wouldn't care for her story from her point of view, but I did.

Dare managed to cram a lot of emotion into one short story and I am impressed.  As expected, this was a very quick and easy read for me - it definitely made getting through a couple of workouts on the treadmill more palatable.  While not my favorite in this series, this book was short, sweet, enjoyable, and a fun little read.  I definitely recommend this installment in the Spindle Cove series.

A Lady by Midnight: Tessa Dare (Spindle Cove, Book Three)

"A temporary engagement, a lifetime in the making...

"After years of fending for herself, Kate Taylor found friendship and acceptance in Spindle Cove -- but she never stopped yearning for love.  The very last place she'd look for it is in the arms of Corporal Thorne.  The militia commander is as stone cold as he is brutally handsome.  But when mysterious strangers come searching for Kate, Thorne steps forward as her fiance.  He claims to have only Kate's safety in mind.  So why is there smoldering passion in his kiss?

"Long ago, Samuel Thorne devoted his life to guarding Kate's happiness.  He wants what's best for her, and he knows it's not marriage to a man like him.  To outlast their temporary engagement, he must keep his hands off of her tempting body and lock her warm smiles out of his withered heart.  It's the toughest battle of this hardened warrior's life...and the first he seems destined to lose."

I've said this in other reviews of Tessa Dare's books in this series, but I really do think her name choices are cute.  In this case, "Thorne" for a rough and prickly man is a good one.  Dare's writing is lively and witty.  This book also did a good job of making me care about both of her leading characters.  I feel like a couple of her other books fell a little bit short on their development of the male leads; but that was not the case with Thorne in this book.  He was brooding and complex.  The plot was fun and interesting; it fit in well with the rest of the series.  It was nice to learn more about these characters who had played supporting roles in other books in this series.  Contrary to some other authors I've encountered, Dare did one of the most difficult things to do when bringing forth formerly supporting characters into a story of their own:  she stayed true to them.  This is something I find highly impressive whenever an author manages to do this.

I loved the layers to this story; all of the interesting background and plots made this book a definite page-turner.  This is easily one of my favorite stories in this entire series.  I read it relatively quickly, so that's always a good sign.  The pacing was done quite well - it had a good blend of lightheartedness and moving moments that made me want to keep reading.

Would I recommend this book?  Definitely; however, I do think this book is best appreciated when coupled with the others in this series - only then can the reader appreciate how Dare developed her characters.

Once Upon a Winter's Eve: Tessa Dare (Spindle Cove, Book 1.5)

"Some wallflowers bloom at night...

"Violet Winterbottom is a quiet girl.  She speaks six languages, but seldom raises her voice.  She endured bitter heartbreak in perfect silence.  The gentlemen aren't beating down her door.

"Until the night of the Spindle Cove Christmas ball, when a mysterious stranger crashes into the ballroom and collapses at Violet's feet.  His coarse attire and near-criminal good looks would put any sensible young lady on her guard.  He's wet, chilled, bleeding, and speaking in an unfamiliar tongue.

"Only Violet understands him.  And she knows he's not what he seems.

"She has one night to draw forth the secrets of this dangerously handsome rogue.  Is he a smuggler?  A fugitive?  An enemy spy?  She needs answers by sunrise, but her captive would rather seduce than confess.  To learn his secrets, Violet must reveal hers -- and open herself to adventure, passion, and the unthinkable...  Love."

I've obviously been reading this series a bit out of order, but -- in the case of this particular mini-book, at least -- I don't think my comprehension was lessened.  I didn't feel lost even though the happenings of this story were mentioned in a later book.

Overall, it was a cute mini-story.  As a reader, I did notice a detachment from the main characters that I had experienced in some of Dare's other books.  I think (in this case) it can at least partially be attributed to the restrictive length of the story.  It might sound a bit harsh, but I did catch myself wondering if the story was even necessary to the series.  I'm stuck between wondering if the author couldn't develop enough story to make a full-length novel, or if she had a little idea and wanted to squeeze it in.  I thought aspects of the story were cute (*Mini-spoiler* - like how the characters used to play a game with languages when they would run their dogs together - *End of spoiler*), but, overall, I don't think this short story necessarily added to the otherwise sweet and rich series.  It was not my favorite of this series, but I wouldn't let that deter you from reading the rest of the series.  The Spindle Cove series is filled with interesting characters and fun plots.  Would I recommend this short story?  Yes, but with the footnote that it is rather unnecessary to the overall series and not the best showcase of the rest of what Dare has to offer.

*Side note:  I've been SO extremely bad at keeping up with my book reviews that it's not even comical...  I began penning this review in December of 2014 and I'm only NOW (in October 2016!) getting around to publishing it!  I feel like such a failure!  I've been keeping track of the books I've been able to read in between my grad school work and - now that this term is about to be done and over with - I'm going to try to sit down and review all of my books that I've been dying to review, but have not been able to get around to.  Obviously, I won't be able to use my RAIR method, but I know I have good enough (excellent, actually) recall when it comes to books, so - rest assured - my reviews will still be accurate and relevant.*

Divergent (Divergent Trilogy, Book One): Veronica Roth

"In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

"During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

"Debut author Veronica Roth bursts onto the YA scene with the first book in the Divergent series—dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance."

*Thank you Amazon.com for the book info - I didn't have any because I happened to listen to this one on an audiobook app.

This book marked my first foray into the world of audiobooks.  (I'm not sure that statement is entirely true...part of me seems to recall listening to Winnie the Pooh audiobooks -- on cassette tape, mind you -- as I went to sleep as a child...but I digress.)  We were teaching this book in the Children's Lit course I'm co-teaching this semester and I had to read this book...and fast...  I wasn't quite sure when I would find the time to read it with all of my other work, but then I had an epiphany:  I spent at least an hour each day, Monday through Friday, on my commutes to and from work.  Why not spend the time listening to books?  I listened to music anyway and I was getting tired of some of the morning talk shows on the radio, so I thought a change might not be so bad.  Luckily for me, there was a Living Social deal (kind of like Groupon, for those of you who are unfamiliar) for two months free subscription to Audible (which I HIGHLY recommend - very user-friendly and worked great when I wanted to listen from my phone through the Bluetooth in my car!).  I jumped on that deal and immediately snagged a copy of Divergent.

I feel like it's only right to talk about my impressions of the format of the book first.  I was unsure about how I would like listening to a book.  I usually go off into my own little world when I read, so distracted driving was a very real possibility -- and something that would have made me stop listening to an audiobook (no distracted driving please!).  I quickly discovered that it was something I really enjoyed!  It made my drives so much more pleasant.  I actually couldn't wait to get in my car and battle traffic!  I will admit that my comprehension and retention of the material were noticeably lessened.  I found myself having to rewind 30-60 seconds every time I started listening to the book again to remind myself where I was in the story.  I'm a visual person and have an extremely good memory for things like where the words were on a page.  I've never really been an auditory learner, so this took some getting used to.  It did not really lessen my enjoyment of the story, but I do think the narration helped a lot.  Emma Galvin was the narrator of the audiobook and (though I don't really have too much experience in this area) I think she did a fairly outstanding job of it.  At first, I was a little uneasy with a single narrator doing all of the character's voices, but I caught on and soon grew to appreciate how easily she maintained her continuity of tone and inflection for each individual character.  Considering how many there were, this could not have been an easy task!  Kudos to her.

As for the story, I wasn't quite sure what to think when I first heard we would be teaching it.  I was such a fan of Hunger Games that it almost fell disloyal to pick up another dystopian teen fiction (silly, I know).  I knew there was a lot of hype going on about the movie, but I'd never even made an attempt to see it. Being from the Chicago area, I think that was what eventually drew me into this book.  I know all of the places Roth describes and it was really disturbing in a thrilling sort of way to "see" the city in such ruin.

(The idea of factions was really interesting from sociological and psychological standpoints, but I won't get too much into that here for fear of putting you to sleep!)

I liked Tris as a character.  She was strong, but not without some weaknesses; she was selfless, yet selfish; and she had just enough "girl" in her to make her relatable to her readers.  Tris walked a fine line between "character" and "realistic," but I think Roth manage to pull it off nicely.  I think she was extremely relatable for female teen readers.  Had Tris had no conscience, then she would have been flat; had she been too strong, then she would have been intimidating to the readers; and had she not had a love interest, then I think the story would have lost an important facet in appealing to a certain teenage demographic.  Who doesn't love a little bit of romance?  I enjoyed the way Roth presented it -- it wasn't too over-the-top or a love-at-first-sight, which I really appreciated.  (Those of you who have read other installments here realize I don't have an issue with these kinds of things in books.  I just don't think they would have fit well with the character of Tris that Roth created.) 

I enjoyed Four as a strong male presence in the book.  He was strong without being uber-masculine.  His character shows readers how men can be both "men" and have depth of emotion and empathy as well.  Even though the story was told from the first-person point of view of Tris, I didn't feel like Four was lost or "less important."  His back story was about as rich as that of Tris, so he was an extremely well-developed character.

(I will say that it bugged me more than a little about how many times characters remarked on the age difference between Four and Tris -- as if two years equated two decades!  This seemed a bit juvenile.)

The book dealt with some pretty powerful issues in ways that teens can comprehend them.  ***Possible spoilers to follow!***  Four's mistreatment at the hands of his father unashamedly confronts child and spousal abuse.  The factions deal with identity, loyalty, cliques, and conformity issues so many teens are confronted with each day.  It openly deals with sex and violence, anxiety and death.  As most dystopian books do, Divergent makes teen readers wonder what will become of their world if solutions aren't found.  I think this book allows for an opportunity for them to see the bigger picture.  Their mental development doesn't always allow them to see outside of their own "bubble," and it's easy to see how a book like this might trigger broader thinking.  Roth is unafraid to hit on a great deal of powerful and emotional situations. ***End of spoilers***

In general, I very much enjoyed the story.  I think the writing style was very enjoyable and the pacing was just right.  It sucked me in and lingered in all the right places.  Keeping in mind that the book is teen literature, I think it was well done.  I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would.  The characters were fun, and the plot was interesting and exciting.  I'm definitely going to have to rent the movie now!

Atonement: Ian McEwan

"Ian McEwan's symphonic novel of love and war, childhood and class, guilt and forgiveness combines all the satisfaction of a superb narrative with the provocation we have come to expect from this master of English prose.

"On a summer day in 1935, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis witnesses the flirtation between her older sister, Cecilia, and Robbie Turner, the son of a servant.  But Briony's incomplete grasp of adult motives and her precocious imagination bring about a crime that will change all their lives, a crime whose repercussions Atonement follows through the chaos and carnage of World War II and into the close of the twentieth century."

Even though the start of the semester technically starts tomorrow I wanted to get a head start on the reading for my classes since I know I'm going to be completely swamped.  This particular book happened to be for my Modern Brit Lit course.  I saw the movie version of this book a few years ago.  It was a late-night Netflix pick (which was a bad idea because -- not only is it a long movie -- but holy cow!  I don't think I've ever cried so hard while watching a movie!)  Now, having read the book, I think the casting was done extremely well.  I definitely saw Keira Knightley as Cecilia and could definitely picture James McAvoy as Robbie (not to mention I think he's probably one of the most beautiful brooding men that exists).While there were a few tweaks here and there in the plot, I don't think they necessarily hindered the power of McEwan's story.

The book took me a bit longer to read than I thought it would.  I cruised through the first hundred-or-so pages, but I slowed quite a bit after that.  I don't want to give anything away, but it took about that long for the major development that I knew was coming to happen.  I don't know if the hinderance was because I knew what was going to happen since I'd already seen the film or if the book itself just slowed quite a bit.  Either way, I had a hard time getting through the enormously long first part of the book (which turned out to be about half of the book).  Once I got through there, the already eloquent writing really brought to life the horrors of war and the tragedy experienced by both individuals and entire countries during WWII.  The biggest thing I will take away from this story is the beauty of McEwan's writing style.  It was reminiscent of a hodge-podge of classical British writing-styles.  I sensed a bit of Austen, Woolf, and even a touch of Dickens.  The entire story had some seriously dark undertones and they definitely helped to generate interest in the plot and characters.  As I mentioned earlier, the book slowed a little bit in the middle, but I wonder if it wasn't because I already knew what was going to happen.  I have a feeling -- with its beautiful writing -- that I wouldn't have been able to put this book down if I'd not experienced the story before.

Overall, I thought the characters were vivid and rich.  I especially appreciated McEwan's technique of putting a story into a story -- as if we were reading the book that Briony wrote and was waiting to publish.  That, I felt, was a unique and very interesting literary decision.  I was moved by this powerful story and recommend it to anyone interested in classic British literature.  McEwan's writing was extremely enthralling and it was difficult not to become absorbed in the tragedy of her characters.

*I have a feeling I'll add more to this review when we discuss this book sometime during the semester.  Be on the lookout for an update!

The Fault in Our Stars: John Green

"Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis.  But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten."

I think it's pretty hard to find someone who hasn't read (or at least heard of) this story or seen its film adaptation that came out in theaters fairly recently.  It's created quite the buzz!  (Now I can see why "Okay?  Okay." is posted everywhere online!  Insanely sweet.)  Initially, I'd discovered this title on a list of book-to-film adaptations that would be coming out in 2014 (I found the list late in 2013).  Honestly, I skipped right over this one.  Cancer kids?  Someone's going to die.  I don't need to bawl like a baby while reading a book (though there are several times I can name where that has happened before).  The movie came out and I was a bit tempted to pick up the book, but none more so when my boyfriend shocked my by saying -- out of the blue -- that he wanted to see this movie.  I was flabbergasted.  This was probably the one movie that I didn't even attempt to ask him to accompany me to.  (Backstory:  His father passed away from cancer a few years before I met my boyfriend.  I never knew his dad, but the two of them were extremely close.)  I didn't think asking him to see a cancer movie was the kind thing to do.  I will add, however, that the movie only came up because my boyfriend told me he might want to go to the $5 movie night at our local theater alone.  I asked why and what movie.  He responded with this film and that he wanted to go alone because he might cry (because a twenty-something man sitting alone in a theater, crying, is a lot less sad than a guy doing it sitting next to his girlfriend?).  I told him that I would love to go with him and that I'd never thought to ask him because of the subject matter.  We still haven't gone, but I was kind of waiting to read the book before I saw the film.  Now that that has been accomplished, I suppose we're going to the movie soon!

I borrowed this book from a coworker who had to read it for her book club.  I had no idea when I'd get to it.  I'm so swamped with work and school.  It feels like forever since I've read a book for pleasure (looking back on the amount of book reviews I've done since this blog started, there's a very interesting trend of a decrease in the amount of reading as college started and I got more absorbed with my studies).  She said I could have the book as long as it took me to read it, which, I thought, would take months, if I didn't get to read it on my upcoming girls' trip to NOLA.  However, we happened to have NO plans for the 4th of July this year (yesterday), and I was able to sit on the deck and read (thanks to my awesome Walmart find:  Bistro patio set for $25!).  The dogs chilled on the deck with me and I got to soak up some sun while enjoying the first book-for-pleasure I'd enjoyed in a really long time.  Needless to say, the last thing I expected to do was FINISH THE BOOK!  Even with endless interruptions (i.e. I had a sick puppy, preparing our shish kabobs and grilling them for lunch/dinner, etc.) I still managed to finish the book in about 12 hours!  I cannot tell you how awesome it felt to do a reading marathon.  That's not something I've done in years!  I think this book was a perfect one to do that with.  I loved the characters.  They were witty and wry and cynical (not to the point of annoying, though).  It was difficult not to fall for Augustus (Gus) and the literary nerd in me really enjoyed his obsession with metaphors.  Hazel was intelligent and interesting as well.  I thought I might not like her at first -- she's portrayed almost abrasively in the first chapter or so -- but she definitely grew on me.  I have to say that I predicted the plot twist even a few chapters into reading about Gus and Hazel's budding romance.  This, however, didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book.  This really is a true love story and I have not read as good a romance as this in a very long time.  (I will say that I didn't bawl like so many other readers have.  The story was beautiful and so lovingly, eloquently written, but I just didn't sob.  I did tear up a bit, but nothing drastic.  Maybe I have become a bit too jaded!)

As far as readability goes, the words flowed extremely well and the dialogue was interesting.  There's quite a bit of vocabulary that I think will be over the heads of most of this book's intended teen audience, but I appreciated it.  I can see why it's appealed to such a broad range of readers.  Now, as far as the maturity level of the audience, I think this book is definitely for a high school audience.  My friend is a middle school teacher and I'm fairly certain this was one of the books she saw her students reading.  Also, my cousin just turned 12 in May and she read this book around that time.  While she loved it (she said she cried at the end of their end-of-year tests while she finished the book) and she is an excellent reader with a broad vocabulary for her age, I think some of this material is just not something she should have been exposed to just yet.  There's sex (implied, but they do mention a condom and getting naked), and a lot of very deep discussion about death and dying.  While I feel like today's kids are a lot more exposed to all of this than even I was in the '90s, a line should be drawn.  Yes, it's a very good book, but there's a reason that so many people sob while reading it -- there's a reason it's so tragically touching.  I'm not yet a parent of a pre-teen so don't think I'm trying to tell you what to do, I'm just trying to be honest when I say, "If you have a pre-teen who wants to read this book, be prepared for one of several things.  Either tell them 'no' and wait a few years until they're in high school (they'll be better able to understand the vocabulary used and they probably would have already had 'the talk' and be a bit more mature and better able to handle such subject matter), or read it with them/before they do (which will help you decide whether or not it's appropriate for your child) and then at least you'll know exactly what they're reading and can prepare some answers for some questions I'm sure they'll have."  I know I fully intend on being the kind of parent who will pre-read books for her kids -- not to censure them, but to prepare myself to answer questions they might have.

I recommend this book for adults and (appropriately prepared and mature) young-adults alike.  Green's writing is vivid and alive.  I've not had to live with cancer (knock on wood), but from having my own serious medical issues, I can say that Green's descriptions of who chronic patients feel are spot on.  I highly recommend this book (for the right readers).  Now I suppose I've got to see the movie -- maybe my boyfriend and I can cry together!

Bastard Out of Carolina: Dorothy Allison

"Greenville County, South Carolina, a wild, lush place, is home to the Boatwright family--rough-hewn men who drink hard and shoot up each other's trucks, and indomitable women who marry young and age all too quickly.  At the heart of this astonishing novel is Ruth Anne Boatwright, known simply as Bone, a South Carolina bastard with an annotated birth certificate to tell the tale.  Bone finds herself caught in the family triangle that will test the loyalty of her mother, Anney.  Her stepfather, Daddy Glen, calls Bone "cold as death, mean as a snake, and twice as twisty," yet Anney needs Glen.  At first gentle with Bone, Daddy Glen becomes steadily colder and more furious--until their final, harrowing encounter, from which there can be no turning back."

Ah, yes, the joy of being a college student -- summer classes...  This was one of the books assigned for my American Souths (yes, that "s" is supposed to be there) class.  We read a novel each week (no exaggeration) that is supposed to help us gain some sort of appreciation for the history and literature surrounding different parts of the oft-difficult-to-concretely-define American South.  This book happened to be the one for which I signed up to lead the discussion and write a context essay (i.e. I have to find some major theme, locate articles on said topic, and relate everything back to how an understanding of those outside sources will better our understanding/appreciation of that part of the South).  You might be wondering why -- if we read a novel each week -- we're already into July and I haven't reviewed another book yet.  To be completely honest (don't tell my professor!) I haven't read any of the other books and have made it through with flying colors thus far!  My professor even sent out an email naming me as one of the best and most thorough contributors this semester!  How do I do it?  I've developed an excellent talent:  I'm a brilliant skimmer.  I absorb a lot of information in a short space of time and am able to apply it in a cohesive and eloquent manner.  I promise I'm not a student who normally does this, but I was very put-off by the fact that the professor expected us to have a novel read by the third day of the semester and hadn't even sent out an email telling us that we should be sure to order it early, let alone that it should be done by almost the first day of class!  I wouldn't be complaining if she'd just sent out an email like every other professor I've had, giving the students fair warning.  I don't think it's ethical to expect students to be able to do such a thing in three days -- we all take online classes for a reason!  Her response when I told her that I'd not yet received my book and (politely!) asked if there was an email I'd missed telling us that we needed to have this book read by the third day of class?  "I'm not going to change the syllabus because you didn't order your books early enough."  Nice.  Needless to say -- as someone who wants to become a college professor -- two things happened.  1) I learned how NOT to treat my students.  It's fine if you want your students to have a book read by even the first day of class, just let them know!  2) Being a jerk only discourages normally enthusiastic students to find ways around your system -- they know they're smart and they're only going to try to find ways to outsmart you.

Moving onto the actual review!  This was the first book I received when I ordered my books for this semester.  I figured I would try to be proactive and just pick up each book and read as it arrived.  Having lived in an area of the South very near to the one that Allison writes about, I took an interest in the setting.  A lot of the characters were lively and fun to read -- others were dark and made me rather uncomfortable.  I enjoyed a lot of the uncles -- especially Earl.  Daddy Glen, on the other hand, was disturbingly complex.  I still cannot quite put my finger on why he does what he does to Bone.  Does it get him off?  Does he hate Bone?  What did she ever do to him?  Why does he do it when he does?  Why does he seem to do it out of love for Anney?  What started it all?  What made him focus on Bone?  I think the disturbing thing is that, even after finishing this book, I can't answer a lot of these questions.

I had a difficult time getting through the chunk of the book where Bone becomes obsessed with religion and gospel music.  Whether that was simply because I'm not that religious, myself, or because it took up too large a chunk of the story to keep the flow, it's difficult to tell.

A couple of things bothered me about the last few chapters of the book:  1)  What happened to Reese, Bone's younger half-sister?  She seemed to disappear from the last part altogether.  I don't want to give away what happens, but part of me can see how people are so absorbed in what happened to Bone that they don't have time to ponder Reese, but Bone was close with Reese.  I'd wonder what happened to my sister after a few days.  I'd expect my aunts to know where she'd gone and for her location to at least be mentioned somewhere.  She's under twelve-years-old for crying out loud!  2) Bone's grandmother also seems to disappear from the last few chapters.  For a woman who played such a huge role in Bone's early life, I would have expected that she would have at least been there for Bone.  Looking back, I think Allison was trying to hint at the fact that Bone's grandmother was getting older and wasn't quite "all there" anymore, but it's one thing to explain the absence, it's another thing to ignore it -- it makes it all the more obvious.

I went through phases of loving (I loved the beginning with Anney's quest to amend Bone's birth certificate -- it's what really drew me into the book in the first place), feeling sympathy for, hating, and loathing Anney Boatwright, Bone's mother.  As someone who has never had such a life (as I'm sure a lot of the readers of this book have not) it was difficult to appreciate her tough choices and some of her actions.  I think one of the most important things to remember is that Anney is still only in her early-to-mid-twenties!  She's a mother of two girls, has had two husbands -- one of whom died tragically young while she was pregnant -- and has worked extremely hard to provide for her little family.  Taking a step back helped me to realize that she's grasping onto Daddy Glen because he's been there.  He might not have been reliable or stable or kind, but he hadn't up and left her.  Her age absolutely has to be taken into account.  She's not some stable-minded adult -- she was a baby who had babies.  This all adds depth and complexity to her character.  I'm not going to say that I liked her at the end of the book, but understanding all of this helped me to see what might have made her make such a decision.

This is probably minor (and I hope I'm not the only one), but I had a hard time pinpointing when in time this story happened.  There were a few hints, but not many until much later in the story.  It would have been really easy for this to just be backwoods, outdated lost-to-time and have taken place even recently.  A simple way to give the readers a sense of time would have been to talk about the model of car Anney drove.  One word would have solved this.  Instead, I spent most of the book flipflopping back and forth between believing this poor (in more ways than one) family was stuck without modern conveniences, and that this book took place in the '50s and '60s.

Overall, the book was deep, dark, and parts of it were difficult to get through.  I liked bits and parts of it and appreciated the depth of Bone's character.  Would I read it again?  Nope.  Would I recommend it?  Not to many -- unless I think they can take the weight of the story.  Allison's writing was interesting and she took this subject to a different place than I'd read before.