A review by ljjohnson8
The Devoted by Blair Hurley

2.0

A self-assured debut novel. Hurley did a decent job with her switching timelines storylines, only getting bogged down a little. Nicole is an Irish-Catholic Boston girl, coming of age during the priest scandals. That, along with difficulties with her mentally ill mother, sends her on a spiritual quest that leads her to Buddhism. After a series of events (no spoilers here) derails her life, she becomes in thrall to a Buddhist master (hmmmm, some similarities to those Catholic priests going on here...). The story kept my interest sometimes and totally lost it at others. There was too much clunkiness - about the Buddhism especially. Some interesting side characters (brother Paul, bf Sean) but not enough time with them or insight into them. Paul, pretty much a saint throughout, is awkwardly given a massive flaw near the end of the novel. Bottom line: I closed the book with a shrug and a ho-hum.