A review by taliatalksbooks
The Crying Rocks by Janet Taylor Lisle

adventurous mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

The Crying Rocks by Janet Taylor Lisle left a lot to be desired. First, it had a really thin plot, that was incredibly traumatic (though the main character didn’t seem too phased by something that absolutely should have caused a lifetime of therapy) as it unfolded. I didn’t find any of the characters to be compelling or natural. Dialog was forced as were relationships and situations that made the book feel choppy and chaotic. This also read as a story written by someone who did a research paper on the Narragansett tribe of Native Americans, not by anyone who was actually native. I looked into the author and couldn’t find anything regarding her heritage, and while that shouldn’t be an automatic dealbreaker, I will say that I would be surprised to find out that the author was actually native, and still wrote this story they way they did. It definitely read like a report, and felt outdated and superficial, which is disappointing because I actually love authentic stories from native authors. At first glance, that is what this appears to be, but with each page, it veers further and further from that. I really wanted more from this story in a lot of places, and while it was a short and quick read, it didn’t do much to hold my interest, making its 200 pages, feel more like 3-400