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A review by nikkitewes
The Red Grove by Tessa Fontaine
3.5
Thank you to Netgalley and Brilliance Audio for the audiobook of The Red Grove. All thoughts and feelings expressed are my own.
Luce has spent most of her life in the protective community within the Red Grove. There have been generations of women who have lived here and felt protected from the outside world. She's been told that no harm can come to her within the grove. Luce believes it and she has no desire to ever leave. Luce's mother, Gloria, is more free spirited than her and feels stifled by the grove community. Gloria is a "seer" and takes clients from outside of the community. One day, one of her clients dies, suspicious things start happening, and then Gloria goes missing. Luce goes on a mission to find out what happened to her mother and uncovers secrets about the very community she has devoted her life to.
I loved that this was told in a dual timeline between the founding members of the community and Luce who is being groomed to become the next leader of the grove. There were some parts that you got to see Gloria's thoughts and feelings about early motherhood and I really felt that. I also love that Gloria never quite bought into the whole grove community. She was my favorite character.
Luce is definitely at the brink of adulthood, and still so naive. Her mother wanted so much more for her than the grove community. She wanted her to be able to experience life before she decided that she wanted to stay. I loved that because I felt the same as I was reading this. I really loved this family. I wish that we got to see a little more of the Red Grove community. I think the book focused so much on the family, that it took away from how creepy the community truly was.
Luce has spent most of her life in the protective community within the Red Grove. There have been generations of women who have lived here and felt protected from the outside world. She's been told that no harm can come to her within the grove. Luce believes it and she has no desire to ever leave. Luce's mother, Gloria, is more free spirited than her and feels stifled by the grove community. Gloria is a "seer" and takes clients from outside of the community. One day, one of her clients dies, suspicious things start happening, and then Gloria goes missing. Luce goes on a mission to find out what happened to her mother and uncovers secrets about the very community she has devoted her life to.
I loved that this was told in a dual timeline between the founding members of the community and Luce who is being groomed to become the next leader of the grove. There were some parts that you got to see Gloria's thoughts and feelings about early motherhood and I really felt that. I also love that Gloria never quite bought into the whole grove community. She was my favorite character.
Luce is definitely at the brink of adulthood, and still so naive. Her mother wanted so much more for her than the grove community. She wanted her to be able to experience life before she decided that she wanted to stay. I loved that because I felt the same as I was reading this. I really loved this family. I wish that we got to see a little more of the Red Grove community. I think the book focused so much on the family, that it took away from how creepy the community truly was.