Scan barcode
xoxoharlow's review against another edition
3.0
The book started off great, but somewhere along the line it got slow. However, as the book progress I felt as though I got a better understanding of the writing. At first I had a few issues with the minor characters but considering that they allowed the reader to get a bigger picture of the story. I do feel as though every character was necessary for the book, but I can't imagine the movie playing out the same way and wonder what will change between the book and movie. But, back to the book. I had a major conflict with Serena a part of me couldn't decide on how I should view her so I settled on simply complex which made the book an even better read. I can't say that everything was always interesting, but for the most part I enjoyed the book and its characters and the ending certainly was worth reading until the end.
book_concierge's review against another edition
5.0
Audiobook performed by Phil Gigante.
In 1929 George Pemberton brings his new wife, Serena, back from Boston to North Carolina, where they plan to make their fortune in timber. George has worked in the lumber camp before, but Serena is new to the mountains. She soon proves herself to be the savy, determined business partner George needs.
Wow … Lady MacBeth has nothing on Serena. I can’t remember when I loved reading a book about a character I disliked so much. Serena is fascinating. From the cool demeanor when confronted with George’s past love life, to her taming an eagle, to turning a wounded man into her faithful servant, to orchestrating the elimination of those who get in her way, she is a woman who demands the reader’s attention. While I was sometimes horrified by her behavior, I could not help but marvel at her strength, and wonder if ANYONE would step forward to stop her.
The other characters are equally well-drawn. George is an ambitious man who had brought home the perfect companion and business partner; Serena will make him the man he wants to be. But he slowly realizes that he may have overlooked a fatal flaw. Rachel, the young woman in George’s past, proves herself to be strong and resourceful. Sheriff McDowell is a man of integrity, intelligent and steadfast; he will NOT be bought by the Pembertons, no matter the cost to him personally or professionally. Galloway is the perfect faithful sidekick to Serena; he keeps her hands (mostly) clean, while doing her dirty work.
I liked how Rash incorporated the history of the era. The push to set aside land for the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, the difficulties brought about by the Great Depression, and the move West by many people who had lost everything. These elements gave the novel a great sense of time and place.
Phil Gigante does a wonderful job performing the audio book. His pacing is good, and he gives each character a unique voice.
In 1929 George Pemberton brings his new wife, Serena, back from Boston to North Carolina, where they plan to make their fortune in timber. George has worked in the lumber camp before, but Serena is new to the mountains. She soon proves herself to be the savy, determined business partner George needs.
Wow … Lady MacBeth has nothing on Serena. I can’t remember when I loved reading a book about a character I disliked so much. Serena is fascinating. From the cool demeanor when confronted with George’s past love life, to her taming an eagle, to turning a wounded man into her faithful servant, to orchestrating the elimination of those who get in her way, she is a woman who demands the reader’s attention. While I was sometimes horrified by her behavior, I could not help but marvel at her strength, and wonder if ANYONE would step forward to stop her.
The other characters are equally well-drawn. George is an ambitious man who had brought home the perfect companion and business partner; Serena will make him the man he wants to be. But he slowly realizes that he may have overlooked a fatal flaw. Rachel, the young woman in George’s past, proves herself to be strong and resourceful. Sheriff McDowell is a man of integrity, intelligent and steadfast; he will NOT be bought by the Pembertons, no matter the cost to him personally or professionally. Galloway is the perfect faithful sidekick to Serena; he keeps her hands (mostly) clean, while doing her dirty work.
I liked how Rash incorporated the history of the era. The push to set aside land for the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, the difficulties brought about by the Great Depression, and the move West by many people who had lost everything. These elements gave the novel a great sense of time and place.
Phil Gigante does a wonderful job performing the audio book. His pacing is good, and he gives each character a unique voice.
myriadreads's review against another edition
5.0
I've been trying to be stingier with the 5-star ratings, but I had to give this book its due. Rash is a fantastic, descriptive, artful writer. It was so hard to put this book down, and I kept wondering what was going to happen in between readings. It's thoughtful and deep and would make an excellent discussion read.
The ending surprised me! In retrospect, though, I should have seen it coming.
I will likely read this again, so that I can slow down and admire the craft even more now that I know the story.
The ending surprised me! In retrospect, though, I should have seen it coming.
I will likely read this again, so that I can slow down and admire the craft even more now that I know the story.
caitlinhonard's review against another edition
1.0
I couldn't even finish it. I was bored and found it too hard to pick up and too easy to put down.
colleengeedrumm's review against another edition
4.0
What made losing someone you loved bearable was not remembering but forgetting.
The mind is it's own place, as the poet tells us, and has its own peculiar reality. What one feels one feels.
Only the present being real.
They's a feeling about a place where men dies and the land dies with them.
The mind is it's own place, as the poet tells us, and has its own peculiar reality. What one feels one feels.
Only the present being real.
They's a feeling about a place where men dies and the land dies with them.
ciaoamandareads's review against another edition
3.0
This was a very slow read for me. The description on the book says that Serena goes after her husband's illegitimate child after she can no longer have children. Her miscarriage doesn't occur until 200 pages into the book... The action from there on was predictable and unsatisifying.
shhchar's review against another edition
2.0
I enjoyed reading Serena, but at the end of the novel, I was left with a lingering feeling that I am now exploring, most likely to my ire.
The intrigue of human brutality within the novel's Appalachian setting was the driving force. However, there is such little exploration into the emotions behind the brutality that I'm left wondering whether Serena was some sort of manic pixie timber-dream girl.
We never get her perspective and are stuck reading either about the idolization Pemberton has for her or the larger-than-life rumors among the workers. This wasn't of huge consequence until about 3/4ths of the way through the book. I expected the slow pace to pick up a little, but it did not. Instead, the readers are led to a quite obvious ending and left with the option of accepting it or if you're me, questioning why we are meant to accept it.
In the ensuing author's interview at the end of Serena, Ron Rash is asked about the "uniqueness of a character like Serena in American literature" to which he replies "I thought it would be interesting to have a female character who had power, even the power of life and death, at a time when women had few opportunities to achieve such power. Her ruling a timber camp full of men struck me as even more intriguing." I think that would have been intriguing as well, but I find it firstly ridiculous to mold that said female character into an impenetrable force - both in mind, body, and power - and not give us any perspective of her inner thoughts or how she came to be that way. Additionally, most of Serena's actions are carried out by another male character which kind of defeats his explanation.
It's not groundbreaking to give a female character power or, honestly, to do it "at a time when women had few opportunities to achieve such power." But did she REALLY achieve this power? We are given a half-assed explanation into her past that is as believable as a fish flying (her Colorado upbringing that I was hoping would be expanded upon was not) and the sparse details that she sought out Pemberton before luring him into marriage with - this is made extremely clear - her body.
With this said "power" she turns into the mistress of the timber camp with all the workers viewing her as a sort of vengeful goddess. Outside of these pages, it is more clear that she is simply a killer we are expected to understand at face value who uses her body for her own unexplored purposes. Thank you, feminist hero.
Safe to say, I fucking hated Serena's character, which is especially sad as she was the driving force behind why I read the book in the first place. I kept expecting to flip the page and get a new detail that would give me insight into why she acted so ruthlessly and devoid of emotion. The reason we are meant to accept (which is on the back of the book and not a spoiler) is of Pemberton aiding his baby-mama and child behind Serena's back. This is so poorly developed within the actual story that without going into the novel expecting it I would've been confused or even more annoyed at its conclusion. I won't even go into the epilogue/coda because it is too ridiculous and farfetched that I'd rather forget about it.
It is frustrating to see a novel with two half-assembled female characters - one flat and one slightly rounded as we are given some insight into her feelings, though she too feels like a caricature of the idyllic pioneer woman with a baby on her back - be given so much literary praise when there are novels with much more accurate depictions of womanhood out there.
I am not taking any fault with the writing of this novel; it built the atmosphere quite wonderfully. But I cannot forgive Rash for positioning this book of supposed evilness of womanhood on the dubious explanation that Serena cannot get pregnant and therefore wishes to murder the woman who has had her husband's child (which was entirely before Serena even knew him).
As for this Rachel Harmon, besides the glimpses of her POV that we are given, we still had to suffer through Pemberton's disparaging male gaze in multiple scenes of him questioning why he ever found her attractive. I'm putting myself in a sour mood by writing this but I am so used to the male gaze in media that I have absolutely no patience for it anymore, especially in literature that I look to escape in.
To declare that few women had power at this time and to present us with a "proper" example of a contemporarily powerful woman who remains static the entire novel and seems to only represent wild greed, murder, and lust is not my idea of "a villainess like no other" as a quote on the back proudly declares. I can now guess why the movie adaptation must've flopped even with Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper in the main roles.
I believe Rash put more effort into building the setting and vernacular, framing the story, and the too-many-to-remember workers' POVs at the sacrifice of well-rounded characters, especially women. This is not a play, as he cited "consciously evoking" MacBeth in the novel, there are no actors to give life and emotion to the lines. This is just another upsettingly flat depiction of good versus evil with women positioned on the front lines instead of men.
The intrigue of human brutality within the novel's Appalachian setting was the driving force. However, there is such little exploration into the emotions behind the brutality that I'm left wondering whether Serena was some sort of manic pixie timber-dream girl.
We never get her perspective and are stuck reading either about the idolization Pemberton has for her or the larger-than-life rumors among the workers. This wasn't of huge consequence until about 3/4ths of the way through the book. I expected the slow pace to pick up a little, but it did not. Instead, the readers are led to a quite obvious ending and left with the option of accepting it or if you're me, questioning why we are meant to accept it.
In the ensuing author's interview at the end of Serena, Ron Rash is asked about the "uniqueness of a character like Serena in American literature" to which he replies "I thought it would be interesting to have a female character who had power, even the power of life and death, at a time when women had few opportunities to achieve such power. Her ruling a timber camp full of men struck me as even more intriguing." I think that would have been intriguing as well, but I find it firstly ridiculous to mold that said female character into an impenetrable force - both in mind, body, and power - and not give us any perspective of her inner thoughts or how she came to be that way. Additionally, most of Serena's actions are carried out by another male character which kind of defeats his explanation.
It's not groundbreaking to give a female character power or, honestly, to do it "at a time when women had few opportunities to achieve such power." But did she REALLY achieve this power? We are given a half-assed explanation into her past that is as believable as a fish flying (her Colorado upbringing that I was hoping would be expanded upon was not) and the sparse details that she sought out Pemberton before luring him into marriage with - this is made extremely clear - her body.
With this said "power" she turns into the mistress of the timber camp with all the workers viewing her as a sort of vengeful goddess. Outside of these pages, it is more clear that she is simply a killer we are expected to understand at face value who uses her body for her own unexplored purposes. Thank you, feminist hero.
Safe to say, I fucking hated Serena's character, which is especially sad as she was the driving force behind why I read the book in the first place. I kept expecting to flip the page and get a new detail that would give me insight into why she acted so ruthlessly and devoid of emotion. The reason we are meant to accept (which is on the back of the book and not a spoiler) is of Pemberton aiding his baby-mama and child behind Serena's back. This is so poorly developed within the actual story that without going into the novel expecting it I would've been confused or even more annoyed at its conclusion. I won't even go into the epilogue/coda because it is too ridiculous and farfetched that I'd rather forget about it.
It is frustrating to see a novel with two half-assembled female characters - one flat and one slightly rounded as we are given some insight into her feelings, though she too feels like a caricature of the idyllic pioneer woman with a baby on her back - be given so much literary praise when there are novels with much more accurate depictions of womanhood out there.
I am not taking any fault with the writing of this novel; it built the atmosphere quite wonderfully. But I cannot forgive Rash for positioning this book of supposed evilness of womanhood on the dubious explanation that Serena cannot get pregnant and therefore wishes to murder the woman who has had her husband's child (which was entirely before Serena even knew him).
As for this Rachel Harmon, besides the glimpses of her POV that we are given, we still had to suffer through Pemberton's disparaging male gaze in multiple scenes of him questioning why he ever found her attractive. I'm putting myself in a sour mood by writing this but I am so used to the male gaze in media that I have absolutely no patience for it anymore, especially in literature that I look to escape in.
To declare that few women had power at this time and to present us with a "proper" example of a contemporarily powerful woman who remains static the entire novel and seems to only represent wild greed, murder, and lust is not my idea of "a villainess like no other" as a quote on the back proudly declares. I can now guess why the movie adaptation must've flopped even with Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper in the main roles.
I believe Rash put more effort into building the setting and vernacular, framing the story, and the too-many-to-remember workers' POVs at the sacrifice of well-rounded characters, especially women. This is not a play, as he cited "consciously evoking" MacBeth in the novel, there are no actors to give life and emotion to the lines. This is just another upsettingly flat depiction of good versus evil with women positioned on the front lines instead of men.
mmihaly's review against another edition
4.0
Amazingly well written, beautiful descriptions, and only a handful of characters worth redemption. This book was hard to read at times and the title character Serena, is cutthroat. I cannot stop thinking about the book's supporting characters even after finishing. Thought provoking and rich in detail!
nancy33's review against another edition
2.0
Slow start, it finally started getting interesting 3/4 of the way into the book. I must be missing the allure that other people found.