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maraa's review
4.0
"Funny and heartbreaking" is right. Great book, with awesome characters, that I couldn't put down.
rhondathibodeau54's review
3.0
Interesting read, very dark....even for me! It was a little slow moving, but definitely worth reading, just not what I am used to.
katie_holder's review
2.0
Sad, dark and very weird. I've never been happier to finish a book than I was after reading this. If only I could erase the images it gave me from mind. I feel as though I need to wash my brain out with bleach and watch 10 hours of the Cosby Show, Leave it to Beaver or even Lassie!
cowboyugly's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder
shugartreading's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
shardaunei's review
3.0
At first I found it interesting and sympathized with Harley, but by the third of the book, I found him annoying. I wanted to drop the book but I just kept going to find out who was the real killer.
mbenzz's review
4.0
I found this book to be very sad...not sad in a weepy way, but sad in a pity way. The life that was left for these kids to lead was so hard, it's no surprise the book ended the way it did.
Harley is a nineteen-year-old kid whose forced to take care of his three sisters (Amber-16, Misty-12, and Jody-5) after their mother kills their father and is sentenced to life in prison. Life is not easy for these kids who live in the backwoods of an old Pennsylvania coal-mining town. Harley's working two crappy jobs, trying to pay the bills and put food on the table, and dealing with a whole mess of problems at the same time.
Faced with a family of three sisters who don't seem to appreciate anything he does, one sister who keeps making incestuous advances towards him, another sister who seems to be encouraging her to do so, a married neighbor who starts having an affair with him, and in the end, a murder, it's no surprise that Harley starts to lose his mind.
I won't go into it anymore, but this was a hard book to put down. Just when you think you knew everything that was going on, another (sometimes disturbing) surprise is thrown at you. While I personally enjoyed 'Coal Run' (Ms. O' Dells second novel) a little more, this book was definitely not a disappointment. Some pretty heavy stuff, but a very good book.
Harley is a nineteen-year-old kid whose forced to take care of his three sisters (Amber-16, Misty-12, and Jody-5) after their mother kills their father and is sentenced to life in prison. Life is not easy for these kids who live in the backwoods of an old Pennsylvania coal-mining town. Harley's working two crappy jobs, trying to pay the bills and put food on the table, and dealing with a whole mess of problems at the same time.
Faced with a family of three sisters who don't seem to appreciate anything he does, one sister who keeps making incestuous advances towards him, another sister who seems to be encouraging her to do so, a married neighbor who starts having an affair with him, and in the end, a murder, it's no surprise that Harley starts to lose his mind.
I won't go into it anymore, but this was a hard book to put down. Just when you think you knew everything that was going on, another (sometimes disturbing) surprise is thrown at you. While I personally enjoyed 'Coal Run' (Ms. O' Dells second novel) a little more, this book was definitely not a disappointment. Some pretty heavy stuff, but a very good book.
bex0's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
book_concierge's review
3.0
Hurley Altmyer is a 19-year-old who has taken on the responsibility for his three younger sisters after their mother has been convicted and sentenced to life in prison for shooting their father. He is hanging on by his fingernails – working two low-paying jobs in an effort to keep their house and the family together. But he is clearly at the breaking point, totally unable to cope or even to face the truth of what has happened and is happening.
This is a dark psychological story of a family caught in a cyclone of dysfunction. It is violent and crass in places. I was caught up in Harley’s life – in his skewed view of the world, and in the downward spiral he is caught in.
I did think the book was rather unrelenting in its psychosis. Yes, O’Dell includes some scenes of tenderness, even a few of humor, but it is a powerful and dark vortex in which the Altmyer family (and the reader) is caught. Not a book for the faint of heart.
This is a dark psychological story of a family caught in a cyclone of dysfunction. It is violent and crass in places. I was caught up in Harley’s life – in his skewed view of the world, and in the downward spiral he is caught in.
I did think the book was rather unrelenting in its psychosis. Yes, O’Dell includes some scenes of tenderness, even a few of humor, but it is a powerful and dark vortex in which the Altmyer family (and the reader) is caught. Not a book for the faint of heart.
mooncrab's review
5.0
This book made me hung over. It is so HEAVY. Be warned: consult the trigger warnings if you are sensitive. But… it’s an amazing book. The setting, circumstance, characters, subtleties and nuances within the unreliable narrator make for such a gripping, emotional, intense read. It’s difficult and disturbing for real, driven equally by plot and characters. The story begins at the end, then the rest of the book is told leading up to that point. The author does this well and the suspense simmers consistently. There are no boring parts. It’s been turned into a film which is nerve wracking but I am excited to watch, and to read more by this author.