Eduardo Santiago
Well, that was unexpectedly sweet. Tender and moving and heartwarming and, okay, a little preachy and heavyhanded, with the noble principled characters just a tad too much so and the despicable ones likewise, but sometimes we need role models to aspire to and mustachioed villains to hiss at. And aside from those very few extremes—only four characters—the rest of the cast is richly, complexly, interestingly human.
The story meanders gracefully through a lovely landscape of people around a smallish community. The relationships between everyone can be hard to follow at times, so this is a good book to focus on over a few days, not a book to put aside and read sporadically. I do encourage you to do so. McBride writes with gentleness and heart, on themes of injustice, strength, growth, and redemption, and I think this book will stay with me. Or at least the first ninety percent: the are two unnecessarily convoluted heist subplots near the end that didn't really work for me. Maybe you'll find that part fun, and if not, just skip a few paragraphs here and there but I hope you'll finish.
Well, that was unexpectedly sweet. Tender and moving and heartwarming and, okay, a little preachy and heavyhanded, with the noble principled characters just a tad too much so and the despicable ones likewise, but sometimes we need role models to aspire to and mustachioed villains to hiss at. And aside from those very few extremes—only four characters—the rest of the cast is richly, complexly, interestingly human.
The story meanders gracefully through a lovely landscape of people around a smallish community. The relationships between everyone can be hard to follow at times, so this is a good book to focus on over a few days, not a book to put aside and read sporadically. I do encourage you to do so. McBride writes with gentleness and heart, on themes of injustice, strength, growth, and redemption, and I think this book will stay with me. Or at least the first ninety percent: the are two unnecessarily convoluted heist subplots near the end that didn't really work for me. Maybe you'll find that part fun, and if not, just skip a few paragraphs here and there but I hope you'll finish.