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3.31 AVERAGE
3.31 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
this is not a spoiler, but when a mural that “moves” is described in the prologue, I immediately thought of Xanadu and it didn’t do this book any favors
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Sing Her Down by Ivy Pochoda is a story about several women with different roles and mindsets revolving around crime and release from prison during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Florence "Florida" Baum is seemlingly an innocent bystander to a crime that landed her in prison. Diosmary "Dios" Sandoval, a fellow inmate, knows differently. Both are released early due to the pandemic and sent to a hotel where they are to stay quaranteed for two weeks. Food is supposed to be delivered daily, but when it goes for much longer, Florida is forced to find alternative solutions, which ulimately leads her to a bus out of town in direct violation of her release. Dios follows her in true stalker fashion and crimes are committed.
Kace is also a fellow inmate but is not released. She is the teller of the story in many of the chapters and is the voice of the dead.
Lobos is a female detective that is chasing Florida and Dios. Ultimately, this is a showdown between Florida and Dios, captured in a mural.
Overall, I enjoyed both the premise and the book. It had an interesting take on the pandemic, which made me think about some of the real-life things we had to endure as a society, and how it must have been for the prison population. I wanted to like the characters, but I wasn't able to connect, which is the main reason I landed on three stars. There were some points in the story that I got confused, and not sure I really felt the ending, but the story line was interesting and different from my usual reads.
Thank you to NetGalley, MCD, and Ivy Pochoda for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Florence "Florida" Baum is seemlingly an innocent bystander to a crime that landed her in prison. Diosmary "Dios" Sandoval, a fellow inmate, knows differently. Both are released early due to the pandemic and sent to a hotel where they are to stay quaranteed for two weeks. Food is supposed to be delivered daily, but when it goes for much longer, Florida is forced to find alternative solutions, which ulimately leads her to a bus out of town in direct violation of her release. Dios follows her in true stalker fashion and crimes are committed.
Kace is also a fellow inmate but is not released. She is the teller of the story in many of the chapters and is the voice of the dead.
Lobos is a female detective that is chasing Florida and Dios. Ultimately, this is a showdown between Florida and Dios, captured in a mural.
Overall, I enjoyed both the premise and the book. It had an interesting take on the pandemic, which made me think about some of the real-life things we had to endure as a society, and how it must have been for the prison population. I wanted to like the characters, but I wasn't able to connect, which is the main reason I landed on three stars. There were some points in the story that I got confused, and not sure I really felt the ending, but the story line was interesting and different from my usual reads.
Thank you to NetGalley, MCD, and Ivy Pochoda for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
The narrative voice did not work for me in this one. I think that the perspective from Dios should have been first person as it comes across too much of a caricature of a villain portrayed in third person only.
I REALLY wanted to love this book.
The description reads: "No Country for Old Men meets Killing Eve in this gritty, feminist Western thriller from the award-winning author of These Women."
"No Country for Old Men" is a absolute gritty and dark masterpiece. And my love for female assassins has no bounds which will explain my love for "Killing Eve" I hit request so hard my dog woke up and asked for another treat.
We have two women in prison: Florence "Florida" Baum and Diosmary "Dios" Sandoval. The first part of this book is the best, IMO, and it's a decent portrayal of prison life. I guess, of course, since I still haven't spent any time in the pen. They get paroled early and that's where this book starts to 'theoretically" take off. Florida takes off and for whatever reason, Dios is obsessed with her and follows her and forces a showdown which is foreshadowed in the very beginning.
At it's core this is a great book. In fact it may be fantastic. But I didn't like several things. Specifically the personalities of everyone involved. To me, a sign of a great writer is to portray several personalities with their own life and character. This one is not the case as you can cut and paste every character in the book. They are all the same character. And second: It tries to be a police procedural which to me falls short. Maybe I read too many of them but the main detective on the case just wasn't believably written.
Overall, I think the book is average and I recommend it. There are plenty who, when reading the synopsis, should take a chance and get some satisfaction from it. Unfortunately, I don't think I'm in that group.
I really appreciate Farrar, Straus and Giroux, MCD for giving me the opportunity to read a advance reader copy for free in exchange for a honest review and it has a publication date of May 23, 2023.
The description reads: "No Country for Old Men meets Killing Eve in this gritty, feminist Western thriller from the award-winning author of These Women."
"No Country for Old Men" is a absolute gritty and dark masterpiece. And my love for female assassins has no bounds which will explain my love for "Killing Eve" I hit request so hard my dog woke up and asked for another treat.
We have two women in prison: Florence "Florida" Baum and Diosmary "Dios" Sandoval. The first part of this book is the best, IMO, and it's a decent portrayal of prison life. I guess, of course, since I still haven't spent any time in the pen. They get paroled early and that's where this book starts to 'theoretically" take off. Florida takes off and for whatever reason, Dios is obsessed with her and follows her and forces a showdown which is foreshadowed in the very beginning.
At it's core this is a great book. In fact it may be fantastic. But I didn't like several things. Specifically the personalities of everyone involved. To me, a sign of a great writer is to portray several personalities with their own life and character. This one is not the case as you can cut and paste every character in the book. They are all the same character. And second: It tries to be a police procedural which to me falls short. Maybe I read too many of them but the main detective on the case just wasn't believably written.
Overall, I think the book is average and I recommend it. There are plenty who, when reading the synopsis, should take a chance and get some satisfaction from it. Unfortunately, I don't think I'm in that group.
I really appreciate Farrar, Straus and Giroux, MCD for giving me the opportunity to read a advance reader copy for free in exchange for a honest review and it has a publication date of May 23, 2023.
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated