Nobody is disputing that Dolly is a most awesome person, in every possible way. My mother has a weakness for country music; I am positive I was born knowing the words to Jolene.
And this book is for-sure compelling – the suspense-lit version of a catchy song.
But… there were issues. The character development for Ethan felt tacked on for depth late in the process. It felt awkward; never flowed in the same way as the rest of the book.
And the trafficking was a barely-scratched, last five pages, good has triumphed thing. I can’t decide if this is a case of first-novel-itis, where every idea is included to the detriment of the story, or if its down to a second author trying to add depth and real stakes after the fact. Either way, it just flat out didn’t work for me.
Which is a shame, because everything else, the real bones and meat of Rose herself and the story, does work. The songwriting was vividly rendered, you could feel Dolly’s lived-in experience there.
Dare I say that she could have forgone the Patterson involvement altogether, and just written about the kids and the music?
