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laila4343's review
3.0
3.5 stars.
Felt the narrative pull me along effortlessly. I somehow liked Kate even though her actions baffled and frustrated me. Maybe I just enjoyed all the crazy situations she found herself in. It was a good story, not a life-changing read.
Felt the narrative pull me along effortlessly. I somehow liked Kate even though her actions baffled and frustrated me. Maybe I just enjoyed all the crazy situations she found herself in. It was a good story, not a life-changing read.
kategci's review
3.0
I would have given this a 3.5 stars if avavilable. Enjoyed this Southern Gothic novel. Very well done, very strong and stubborn female character.
sloatsj's review
2.0
3-/2+
Not a bad book. How can I say it… it’s very “plotty.” There’s a lot of “and then…” and “what could have prepared me for what came next?” You know within the first four pages that Kate’s father kills her mother and that Kate abandons her child as a baby. The character Kate is meant to embody resilience and pluck, but while I do sympathize with her most of the time, I find her a bit cold.
One feature of the writing that annoys me some is the frequent use of similes, which is done – understandly – to reflect the Southern dialect. Some of the similes are sweet, like “I filled with thanks like a rain,” or “I was calm as the pavement,” but it still bugs me when it’s done too much. Here’s an overdose from page 4 alone:
- …making that long trip on roads rough as gullies.
- …drive home to see my mother, bathed and nervous as a hamster.
- It was January and cold as igloos.
- ….fall afternoons when my mother would be blue as indigo.
Nevertheless, it’s not a bad book, just not especially my thing. I understand that the protagonist’s personal history makes her what she is (sometimes cold and inconsiderate).
More than with its glowing back-cover blurbs, it won me over with its cover. A weakness of mine!
Not a bad book. How can I say it… it’s very “plotty.” There’s a lot of “and then…” and “what could have prepared me for what came next?” You know within the first four pages that Kate’s father kills her mother and that Kate abandons her child as a baby. The character Kate is meant to embody resilience and pluck, but while I do sympathize with her most of the time, I find her a bit cold.
One feature of the writing that annoys me some is the frequent use of similes, which is done – understandly – to reflect the Southern dialect. Some of the similes are sweet, like “I filled with thanks like a rain,” or “I was calm as the pavement,” but it still bugs me when it’s done too much. Here’s an overdose from page 4 alone:
- …making that long trip on roads rough as gullies.
- …drive home to see my mother, bathed and nervous as a hamster.
- It was January and cold as igloos.
- ….fall afternoons when my mother would be blue as indigo.
Nevertheless, it’s not a bad book, just not especially my thing. I understand that the protagonist’s personal history makes her what she is (sometimes cold and inconsiderate).
More than with its glowing back-cover blurbs, it won me over with its cover. A weakness of mine!
canuckmum's review
3.0
Beautifully written. I had a difficult time with the decisions Kate Vaiden made, especially that of abandoning her 6 month old son. She was a very selfish, and I simply could not relate to her character.
shalms's review
5.0
I just finished reading this book for the second time and it consumed me. I read it first when I was in my early thirties but now in my fifties, like Kate, I feel every word of her story. I honor Reynolds Price for creating the woman, her family, and the story he let her so ably tell.
jeanetterenee's review
3.0
3 1/2 stars
I couldn't quite figure out what I thought of it as a whole, because there was so much about it that I loved---especially the Southern flavor, the occasional laugh-out-loud humor, and the style of writing that is so different from other authors. But the whole is definitely less satisfying than its parts. I liked Kate better as a young girl than as a woman.
The book has a strong orphan/abandonment theme that's very interesting to follow. You can't really dislike Kate, and yet there seems to be something fundamentally missing from her personality. Hard to tell if she was born that way or if being orphaned at age eleven made her that way. She's the most impulsive character I've ever encountered. She uses people when she needs them, and then just picks up and disappears whenever things get uncomfortable or she's "used them up." This would be an excellent book for a book group to read and discuss. Even for group members who may not love the book, there would be MUCH to pick apart.
scherzo's review against another edition
4.0
Main character is well-developed; but other characters are not so believable.
(Barbara Kingsolver's favorite fictional character)
(Barbara Kingsolver's favorite fictional character)
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