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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
this puppy wrapped its glowing tendrils around me from page one. high strangeness in the tennesee backwoods of the 1930s & 40s. the dark & intoxicating & ecstatic side of tasting too much of the divine. the fanaticism of religion. Pitch perfect pace & characters. the narrative blossomed & wove with twists that were unexpected but not relied upon to hold up the story. southern gothic braided with a nightmare god in the mountain. oh to commune with the ghostdaddy. 5 stars, ever blooming.
I couldn't put this down! Up until the very last line I was completely gripped.
3.5⭐ Although it was very haunting, it just wasn't for me.
Stella was nine years old the first time she met her family’s god, when she had just been left in the care of her grandmother, Motty. Stella enjoyed her place as a Revelator, communing with god, until one fateful night, a tragedy caused her to flee. Now, ten years later, Stella is a bootlegger living on her own, but she’s called back when Motty dies. Stella returns to protect Sunny, a young girl adopted by her grandmother after she left, from what happened to Stella all those years ago. But being back in that house and fighting against the will of the family elders, brings back all those memories that Stella’s been trying to forget.
This was an excellent spooky and sinister story about family and religion and what really lives in the dark. It’s told in two stories, current Stella trying to stop the past from repeating, mixed in with flashbacks of what happened before. And as more of the story unfolds, it gets weirder and weirder, so that even if you think you know where it’s going, nope, it’s even stranger and darker than that. Very excellent page-turner that keeps you guessing to the very end.
This was an excellent spooky and sinister story about family and religion and what really lives in the dark. It’s told in two stories, current Stella trying to stop the past from repeating, mixed in with flashbacks of what happened before. And as more of the story unfolds, it gets weirder and weirder, so that even if you think you know where it’s going, nope, it’s even stranger and darker than that. Very excellent page-turner that keeps you guessing to the very end.
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A fantastically written story of generational religious trauma set in Appalachia of the 1930s and '40s. The world of the story is immersive, based on many real experiences of the author and his family. The dialogue is sharp, quippy, and impressively natural. The characters feel deep and real. The horror is delightfully creepy. The only thing keeping this from being a 5-star read for me is just some indeterminate "it" factor - otherwise, I think this is perfectly executed and does exactly what it set out to do.
This book was interesting, the God's name really put me off but otherwise the story is creative and the characters are well actualized. The atmosphere is accurate to the time period and overall I liked the book.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Stella is left in the care of her grandmother Motty in rural Tennessee in 1933. What she thinks is a temporary custody soon unfolds into her initiation into the Birch family's secret religion, and her key place in it, worshipping an entity called the Ghostdaddy. In 1948 after years as a professional moonshiner she's set to return to the cove, a place she fled following a tragedy, for Motty's funeral. What awaits there will unbury Stella's past, entangling her again in her family's destructive faith.
This is a book with hunger in its heart, where the fervor of religion mixes with the world of Tennessee bootlegging, where faith and greed go hand in hand.
The drama plays out against the backdrop of the Smoky Mountains, but emphasises the humane rather than the landscape's sublime vastness. This land means home to people, though they're imminently being removed from it for the creation of a park, weaving the real history of the area into this Southern gothic tale.
A dual timeline methodically reveals Stella's story, one of generational religious trauma, of women able to commune with an eldritch god, and of their narratives shaped and controlled by men. In Gregory's hands the fervor of the Birches gradually curdles into something darker, while questioning aspects of Christianity. Viewed through Stella's contrary and insightful eyes accepted practices of Christianity begin to take on a bizarre edge, the hostility the cove's churchgoers show the Birches suddenly hypocritical. Are they so different? Is all worship at its core somehow monstrous? And if we believed ourselves divinely chosen what sacrifices would we make for glory, whichever god was granting it?
The complex critique of religion and patriarchy runs parallel to a coming of age both brutal and tender. I loved Stella, earnest then shrewd and hard-headed, and the ragtag found family who help her wrest back her story. The natural, quippy dialogue quickly creates a complex cast of characters you can root for (or despise, looking at you Hendrick) in a setting that's captivating and unnerving, yet grounded. And that last line... I'm haunted.
