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mselvis's review against another edition
3.0
Appreciated the factual framework of this fictional story.
claudiacantread's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the story but could have done without the magical realism aspects. It just didn't work for me and felt like it distracted from the rest of the story.
rljrlj's review against another edition
3.0
Interested by the premise, but overall the pace was too slow and there didn’t feel like enough build-up/payoff by the end for me.
chlobrew's review against another edition
3.0
i would put 3.5 stars if i could. i listened to this audiobook and did really enjoy it, but it was a little confusing. i loved the perspective of the main character, and loved the setting of the story. not my fav but worth the read (or listen)!
karnaconverse's review against another edition
3.0
Verble packs a wide variety of characters and themes into this 1920s-era story: prohibition, race relations, a WWI veteran, the Scopes Trial, Native American beliefs, and the day-to-day activities of a zoo and the death-defying performances of its horse diver. The base story itself, however, is a bit difficult to define, and I'm not convinced it's as much a mystery as the promo blurb emphasizes. For me, this story is a search-for-self narrative in which horse diver Two Feathers is beginning to wonder who she is and who she wants to be.
Verble is knowledgeable. In addition to being an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation, she grew up in the neighborhood where this story is set and vividly remembers digging up the shoulder bone of a large animal when she was a child. She writes with a warmth that drew me in, but I didn't become as invested in this story as I had in the story she told in Cherokee America, one of the New York Times 2019 Notable Books of the Year.
Verble is knowledgeable. In addition to being an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation, she grew up in the neighborhood where this story is set and vividly remembers digging up the shoulder bone of a large animal when she was a child. She writes with a warmth that drew me in, but I didn't become as invested in this story as I had in the story she told in Cherokee America, one of the New York Times 2019 Notable Books of the Year.
erinsbookshelves's review against another edition
postponing my reviews of books published by harper collins + their imprints due to them planning to publish a book by a zionist author in jan. 2024.
oloyack's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
renaplays's review against another edition
4.0
A mash-up of genres, including historical fiction, entertainment history, magic realism, thriller, and mystery.
I was enthralled by the first part of the book--the story of Two Feathers, her horse diving, and the various characters of Glendale Park, particularly her friendship with Crawford and the Montgomery Sisters. I was surprised, delighted, and thoroughly entertained as if I had been at the park myself.
Once the number of points of view proliferated, the narrative got boggy, and my energy flagged. There were too many story lines hinted at and left unresolved, including the wealthy Shackleford ne'er-do-well son, the ghosts of Clive's past, and the relevance of the Scopes Trial.
The author's note reveals how much of the plotline was historical, and I think that would have made for a richer, more satisfying structure than the reduction to a villain-focused story. The magic realist aspects were entertaining, but seemed to belong to a different book. The author is just trying to do too much, and we're left with the thin results.
I would have preferred taking the intriguing, fresh, core characters deeper into their complex histories, embedding them in the compelling local history, and showing us more about a changing America. While the latter part of the book didn't work so well for me, I am still a big fan of Two, Clive, and Crawford, and think the book is a notable read for its behind-the-scenes look at this form of mass entertainment, the complexities of diversity in the 1920s, and an end of an era.
Thank you to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for an advanced review copy.
I was enthralled by the first part of the book--the story of Two Feathers, her horse diving, and the various characters of Glendale Park, particularly her friendship with Crawford and the Montgomery Sisters. I was surprised, delighted, and thoroughly entertained as if I had been at the park myself.
Once the number of points of view proliferated, the narrative got boggy, and my energy flagged. There were too many story lines hinted at and left unresolved, including the wealthy Shackleford ne'er-do-well son, the ghosts of Clive's past, and the relevance of the Scopes Trial.
The author's note reveals how much of the plotline was historical, and I think that would have made for a richer, more satisfying structure than the reduction to a villain-focused story. The magic realist aspects were entertaining, but seemed to belong to a different book. The author is just trying to do too much, and we're left with the thin results.
I would have preferred taking the intriguing, fresh, core characters deeper into their complex histories, embedding them in the compelling local history, and showing us more about a changing America. While the latter part of the book didn't work so well for me, I am still a big fan of Two, Clive, and Crawford, and think the book is a notable read for its behind-the-scenes look at this form of mass entertainment, the complexities of diversity in the 1920s, and an end of an era.
Thank you to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for an advanced review copy.
bertolino's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0