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wiki765's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
jmtaylor1981's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting read about where my grandparents were born & raised.
shadowcas's review against another edition
4.0
First things first, I watch the movie Lawless long before I read the book it was based on. I was instantly hooked. I couldn’t stop watching it because I was so amazing. I finally picked up The Wettest County in the World by Matt Bondurant to get more a fix. And man, it truly helped.
Overall, the book was fantastically written. Forrest, Howard, and Jack Bondurant really came to life and jumped off the page for me. It was easy to get attached and really fall in love with each one. The fact that Bondurant really only had a tiny bit of information and he was able to flesh it out into a believable and enjoyable story is wonderful. Bondurant didn’t make these farmers into hardcore gangsters. He didn’t create characters that were out of place in the story. He fleshed out the characters that he knew and the stories that he had heard as a child. He took into account the locale, the history, and the upbringing of these men, and successfully brought them to life.
The writing was smooth and well done overall. The language fit well with the story being told and it wasn’t so filled with needless information so as to bog it down and slow the story to a crawl. My only real complaint was the jumping around on the timeline that took place within the book. When the story went to the reporter, Anderson, it honestly felt as if it was detracting from the story rather than adding to it. Skipping over those sections entirely would not have hurt the book one bit.
I do highly recommend The Wettest County in the World. It was amazingly well done and well worth the read.
☆☆☆☆ out of 5 stars
Overall, the book was fantastically written. Forrest, Howard, and Jack Bondurant really came to life and jumped off the page for me. It was easy to get attached and really fall in love with each one. The fact that Bondurant really only had a tiny bit of information and he was able to flesh it out into a believable and enjoyable story is wonderful. Bondurant didn’t make these farmers into hardcore gangsters. He didn’t create characters that were out of place in the story. He fleshed out the characters that he knew and the stories that he had heard as a child. He took into account the locale, the history, and the upbringing of these men, and successfully brought them to life.
The writing was smooth and well done overall. The language fit well with the story being told and it wasn’t so filled with needless information so as to bog it down and slow the story to a crawl. My only real complaint was the jumping around on the timeline that took place within the book. When the story went to the reporter, Anderson, it honestly felt as if it was detracting from the story rather than adding to it. Skipping over those sections entirely would not have hurt the book one bit.
I do highly recommend The Wettest County in the World. It was amazingly well done and well worth the read.
☆☆☆☆ out of 5 stars
berthe33's review against another edition
2.0
great potential. the actual story of the Bondurant family was fascinating...the Sherwood Anderson mash-up was not. The writing hooks you, easily read with lots of Americana giving you a striking picture of days gone by.The time shifts were VERY annoying and really, to me, unnecessary.
lizjane's review against another edition
4.0
I listened to this novel that is loosely based on the author's grandfather and granduncles. Three Bondurant brothers in Franklin County, Virginia make ends meet during the Great Depression by moonshining (or blockading, as it was called in that area). After losing almost half their family during the flu epidemic of 1918, the brothers turn to making a living however they are able.
I liked the writing style very much. The author paints a picture of a stoic southern people who don't let anyone get to know them well. Just when a person is presented as being mean and uncaring, they are shown to care. Then when you start to warm up to that person they are shown to be cruel. More nicely done than I'm making it sound.
I liked the writing style very much. The author paints a picture of a stoic southern people who don't let anyone get to know them well. Just when a person is presented as being mean and uncaring, they are shown to care. Then when you start to warm up to that person they are shown to be cruel. More nicely done than I'm making it sound.
corrompido's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the main story of this book. The main story follows three brothers who are bootleggers and general shady characters in the early 1900s. They grew up as poor farmers in a region that became known for moonshine production during prohibition, and soon became involved themselves. Some of the more interesting pars of the book came from seeing how the three brothers were each differently suited (or unsuited in some cases,) to such a life.
However, the book really fell apart where it tried to skip back and forth to a story taking place ~5 years ahead of the other one. In the second story a journalist was trying to find information about the bootleggers of the area and having trouble figuring out what actually happened. The problem is that the second story added almost nothing to the original or the overall book. Those pages could have been much better spent developing the brother characters (who suffer from shallow characterization for much of the book.)
However, the book really fell apart where it tried to skip back and forth to a story taking place ~5 years ahead of the other one. In the second story a journalist was trying to find information about the bootleggers of the area and having trouble figuring out what actually happened. The problem is that the second story added almost nothing to the original or the overall book. Those pages could have been much better spent developing the brother characters (who suffer from shallow characterization for much of the book.)
mackenziedmh's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
misssarah's review against another edition
5.0
This book will probably be added to my favourite list. After watching the movie, the book answered a lot of questions that I had, and it also added a lot more "visual"'as well. It was well written & I would definitely recommend this book to anyone!