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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Some parts and characters were interesting but some were forgettable. About three-fourths of the book was just introducing character backstories, 90% of which weren't really relevant to the climax. The actual action was only 3 chapters long with no real answers. Also, there was nothing about the synopsis of this book that indicated it would be so heavily Covid-related, so I felt quite blindsided by it.
Athens, GA. I had to look it up on the map. Google says: “It’s one of the best places to live in Georgia” with a population of 126,118. That’s where this story takes place at Lindbergh’s, a pharmacy where the locals go for a haircut, prescription drugs and root beer floats.
The reader gets a good sense of this small town with the people. The store owners were three generations back from Buddy to Jack and now Theo. The routine was ingrained. He knew most of the customers. Everyone liked him. But the work wasn’t Theo’s dream job.
The book follows several characters. Jason had on a pro-gun, pro-God, pro-life, pro-Trump t-shirt while working at his construction job. His son. Jace, was involved with the radical rigged election. Karson wanted to help others. He created Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement and Athens Youth Active. Daphne was a nurse for the army. She told her dad, “I like girls” and that was fine. Dorothy was a no-nonsense gal – always ready to take charge.
If I was at the Lindbergh’s drugstore, I could easily recognize all of these characters. Yet, there were so many in my head. It’s like going to a bookstore and having an abundance of choices and then almost giving up with too much to think about. The end finally brings all of the people together with a plot that is fairly predictable.
I’m not sure if I’d want to travel five hours to visit Athens. It has a small town feel where a tourist could be spotted miles away. Will Leitch writes what he knows and that’s where he lives. I am betting that a lot of the folks he describes so well are packed into the chapters and perhaps they’re wondering: is this me?
I can’t wait to read whatever is next.
The reader gets a good sense of this small town with the people. The store owners were three generations back from Buddy to Jack and now Theo. The routine was ingrained. He knew most of the customers. Everyone liked him. But the work wasn’t Theo’s dream job.
The book follows several characters. Jason had on a pro-gun, pro-God, pro-life, pro-Trump t-shirt while working at his construction job. His son. Jace, was involved with the radical rigged election. Karson wanted to help others. He created Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement and Athens Youth Active. Daphne was a nurse for the army. She told her dad, “I like girls” and that was fine. Dorothy was a no-nonsense gal – always ready to take charge.
If I was at the Lindbergh’s drugstore, I could easily recognize all of these characters. Yet, there were so many in my head. It’s like going to a bookstore and having an abundance of choices and then almost giving up with too much to think about. The end finally brings all of the people together with a plot that is fairly predictable.
I’m not sure if I’d want to travel five hours to visit Athens. It has a small town feel where a tourist could be spotted miles away. Will Leitch writes what he knows and that’s where he lives. I am betting that a lot of the folks he describes so well are packed into the chapters and perhaps they’re wondering: is this me?
I can’t wait to read whatever is next.
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5/5 This books had a lot of potential in the build-up and Leitch is a strong writer, but I'm not sure if there was any part of the book that was exciting or memorable. It's a well-written story from a character building perspective, but not enough to push it to a 4 for me. I'll also mention that the epilogue or "after" felt very disjointed from the rest of the book.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An interesting book for our time. It took me probably half the book to figure out the formatting, but once I did, it made much more sense. You'll know what's coming, but be pleasantly surprised at the outcome.
(3.5) I enjoyed Leitch's great characterization of each person and the suspense was built up well, but for me, it focused on too many different characters to get a deeper experience out of the novel. I am curious to read another of his novels, though, as the writing was good!
I have equal and opposite reactions to this book and can’t decide if I really like it or if the author created an antagonist based on a weird and problematic understanding of gun violence. It’s a quick and engrossing read, so that’s a plus. But Leitch could have said a lot of important things with this book, and instead he says nothing except that we should listen to people.