Reviews

Lady Chevy: A Novel by John Woods

mustafa_marwan's review against another edition

5.0

How far can an unbright citizen go to keep a few seconds' lapse of judgement from destroying her career?
Part neo-noir, part psychological study of how far we can take before we crack, comes this fresh writing and solid addition into country noir literature.

manaledi's review against another edition

3.0

DNF, half-way. My mom thought this book was really good for being a depressingly realistic look at poverty in Appalachia. She also reads a lot of thrillers and detective novels and has always liked noir as a genre. I agree that it's well-executed in that I cared about all the characters and their dilemmas and their circumstances. It was just too noir for me - the violence was too stressful and the racism too blatant (he doesn't hide it - white supremacy is a very explicit plot point).

kpdoessomereading's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

cami19's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

cynthiak's review against another edition

2.0

EDIT: with time, it seems like a tall tale with caricatural characters. Downrated to 2 stars.

Can't decide why I disliked this book. But the writing was ok (very "creative writing"-like though). So a three-star rating seems fair and square.

ja_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism and Racial slurs

kasiabrenna's review against another edition

2.0

Grim and unpleasant. Awful people, wooden dialogue, racial slurs, white supremacists waiting for the race war, etc. Not what I needed right now.

melissa_m's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75