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A review by thehouseplantlibrarian
The Last Carolina Girl by Meagan Church
3.0
In the loving arms of her lumberjack father, Leah is content with their simple life and their tiny cottage next to her best friend Jesse, unbothered by the judgement of others. But when tragedy strikes and she is forced to move away from everything she has ever known and into a house of strangers, she is disheartened when she is not welcomed into the house with loving arms but with cold contempt from the matriarch, who sees her as a low class citizen. Yet as she continues to grow up and wonders what the future holds for her, she has no idea how deep the resentment in her new community lies.
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There was a melancholic tone to this story from the very beginning, a dread that sat like a rock in my stomach as I read it, but I will say when the looming threat is finally revealed, I was not expecting it. It moves slowly, without much action to keep the story moving, and you're just waiting for the shoe to drop. The overarching antagonist is deep-seated prejudice and jealousy that amounts to devastating cruelty and I feel ashamed and angry that it is a reality of a too-recent history for those of low socioeconomic status and POC.
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I went into the story somewhat blind and even if I had read the description, I'm not sure I would have been ready for what I found. Ultimately, this was not was I was looking for in a read at the time. This is not escapism but is meant to inspire important conversations. There is beautiful imagery that evokes Where the Crawdads Sing with the energy of the North Carolina coast in the 20th century. Overall, not for me, but beautifully written.
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Thank you Net Galley, Meaghan Church, and Sourcebooks for this ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.
.
There was a melancholic tone to this story from the very beginning, a dread that sat like a rock in my stomach as I read it, but I will say when the looming threat is finally revealed, I was not expecting it. It moves slowly, without much action to keep the story moving, and you're just waiting for the shoe to drop. The overarching antagonist is deep-seated prejudice and jealousy that amounts to devastating cruelty and I feel ashamed and angry that it is a reality of a too-recent history for those of low socioeconomic status and POC.
.
I went into the story somewhat blind and even if I had read the description, I'm not sure I would have been ready for what I found. Ultimately, this was not was I was looking for in a read at the time. This is not escapism but is meant to inspire important conversations. There is beautiful imagery that evokes Where the Crawdads Sing with the energy of the North Carolina coast in the 20th century. Overall, not for me, but beautifully written.
.
Thank you Net Galley, Meaghan Church, and Sourcebooks for this ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.