Serena

Absolutely hated this book

If you consider yourself a fan of nature, you'll probably enjoy the poetic descriptions in this book (especially if you're keen to the Appalachians.) But, if you're a 100 percent bonafide nature nerd- well, you'll find yourself angered at the inaccuracies found within. If you're a bird trainer, especially one who knows eagles well, you'll be incredulous at the insanity of some of the supposed happenings in here. And even more so if you're also cozy with some Komodo dragons. Add in some anger for every horse person who will flinch at the mention of “white” Arabian (white doesn't exist in horses- it's gray or cream mellow colors which are more gold/pink, white is NOT a thing) and you'll do a lot of cringing throughout this novel. God knows I did. Would have been cool if the authors research was consistent as they obviously researched Chesnut blight and other ecological issues. The writing is good, it's the poor research I take so much issue with.

Also, I still feel like I have no understand of the villian's driving forces other than vague greed, so I still just don't quite understand the point of the entire reading.

I spent the whole thing mad and finished it quick out of spite. So there's something I guess.

The reviews I had read prior to my reading this novel were very polarized. Many loved it, many hated it. The impression it left me lies somewhere in the middle.

Ron Rash's prose is beautiful. It is realistic and earthy, but not raw or unpolished and it helps you visualize the harsh Appalachian landscape, full of lore and superstitions, which is slowly falling prey to the needs of the developing, modern world. The heart of the novel is Serena, a deeply flawed, mysterious heroine that bends eagles and men alike to her will. Pemberton, her husband, has some sins of the past to atone for. The relationship between the married, young couple is the element that attracts the reader's attention, in my opinion. And there lies the fault of the novel.

When the two main characters are absent, Serena simply seizes to exist. Every other character is boring, their conversations are provincial and deeply sexist. Of course, this last remark may be somehow unjust, considering the time and setting of the novel. We have men who feel threatened by a powerful woman. In addition, the animal violence was too much.The mad preacher is infuriatingly annoying, and Rachel is a snooze-fest, her only function lies to additional melodrama. She is weak, she only thinks and never acts, a character I simply didn't care about. As a result, much skimming and skipping pages took place in a novel that is not particularly long.

I could see the end coming from a distance when Pemberton expressed the will to aid Rachel and his illegitimate son so I wasn't that surprised. Was it a just ending? Not particularly, but it was a realistic one. Furthermore, I was disappointed with the fact that we never get to know the reason Serena was such a cruel, ruthless, deranged person. Pemberton was much more developed, Serena sometimes came across as one-dimensional. In that sense, she was more a Medea than a Lady Macbeth, because there is not an ounce of remorse in her. Somehow, in retrospect, I think that the end left some considerable loose ends.

I will definitely read more works by Ron Rush, but my high expectations for Serena were not fulfilled.

I couldn't put this book down. I can't remember how or why I came to be reading it, it's not something I would usually choose, but I think the fact that Jennifer Lawrence was going to play Serena in the film this year made me automatically assume it would be good! It didn't disappoint and, neither did the film although based on the length of the book, the film version was obviously drastically shortened.

Meh. Not necessarily an industry I find all that interesting, and I'm not into following psychopathic characters with no flaws. I didn't care about Serena at all, and she kept hurting the characters who were borderline sympathetic, so when this book ended I was just pleased I didn't have to hear any more about the timber industry. The writing was good though.

Serena's character was compelling at first but then kind of ridiculous and less nuanced at the end. Or maybe that's just because I got to know her better and she lost her mysterious appeal! Rash's writing about the landscape and the people transported me to the Smokies, and the many depictions of the process and result of timber clearcutting just made my heart ache. Still, a great read, especially if you love NC Appalachian landscape, history and colorful characters.

This was another just “OK” read for me. I found the story to be interesting, in fact while reading it I felt it had a bit of a “There Will Be Blood” (movie) feel to it, but the two main characters were just so unlikeable that it really turned me off. I found most of the characters to be very one dimensional, with really only one that seemed to be fully developed and it was her character that kept me interested enough to finish the book. As I mentioned the story was interesting, but was often bogged down with boring passages about politics and land rights, so ya, Just an OK read for me...