A review by booksandbosox
Velva Jean Learns to Drive by Jennifer Niven

3.0

I picked this one up because I received an ARC of the sequel at ALA a few weeks ago. So I read the first book in preparation for reading the ARC. I would have thought that this was right up my alley. Velva Jean lives in Appalachia in the 1930s and dreams of becoming a singer at the Grand Ole Opry. But when she falls in love with a handsome preacher, will she lose her own dreams in her attempts to support his? I love historical fiction and Appalachia has always fascinated me. But for some reason, this book didn't grab me like I would have expected. Velva Jean is a lovely character but she didn't really seem all that believable to me. She very spunky and I guess I assume that women of this time period and in this region would have been more repressed than her. The arc of her story didn't really hold my attention - it didn't seem all that unusual or unique. I kept reading because there were bits and pieces of the story that I was enjoying but I wish I had enjoyed it more.