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A review by mrsfligs
The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard
3.0
Brief Description: During a blizzard in a small Kansas town in January 1987, the body of a naked young woman is discovered. No one knows her identity, and she is buried in a simple grave. Over the years, she becomes known as the “Virgin of Small Plains,” and legend has it that visiting her grave can heal the sick. Long-time Small Plains resident Abby has never really questioned the story of the Virgin; she was more affected by the mysterious disappearance of her boyfriend Mitch Newquist on the same night in January 1987. So, seventeen years later, when Mitch reappears in Small Plains, the past comes back to life and the mystery of who the Virgin is and what happened to her starts to come out, despite the best efforts of other members of the town.
My Thoughts: I’ll just say it right out: I thought this book was pretty blah. The characters never felt developed, the big mystery felt overwrought and the whole “miracles” of the Virgin just seemed tacked on for reasons that were never clear to me. Throughout the whole book, I kept thinking “Why the heck did NONE of these people speak up or question what was going on around them?” This was another book that I read for the Take A Chance Challenge, and (unlike Strange But True) it was a big disappointment. Honestly, if I didn’t have it on my list for the challenge, I would have stopped reading it.
My Thoughts: I’ll just say it right out: I thought this book was pretty blah. The characters never felt developed, the big mystery felt overwrought and the whole “miracles” of the Virgin just seemed tacked on for reasons that were never clear to me. Throughout the whole book, I kept thinking “Why the heck did NONE of these people speak up or question what was going on around them?” This was another book that I read for the Take A Chance Challenge, and (unlike Strange But True) it was a big disappointment. Honestly, if I didn’t have it on my list for the challenge, I would have stopped reading it.