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thebasiccritic's review against another edition
4.0
This novel was my first read from this author, so it was nice to get a chance to see his style of writing. Thank you to NetGalley and Crossroad Press for the ARC!
Our story begins in a small town in Alabama where that town has a history...QUITE the history. A massacre at a high school in preparation for a homecoming dance takes place, and a young man has been placed with the blame.
Fast forward to the late 90s, we meet Alan McAdams and his sons, Thomas and Josh, as well as Alan’s father, Sim. Sim and his sister Charlotte were students at the time of the massacre. Weird things begin to happen in their small town in preparation for their own homecoming dance.
The storyline goes back and forth between the Jim Crow 1950s and the “present” time of the 90s. I like how the author did the timeline like this to keep up with what is going on.
I gave this a 4-star rating because in my copy of the ARC, I saw some spelling errors that threw me off, causing me to reread sentences a few more times to grasp what was meant. I don’t blame that on anyone.
There were moments in the story that, to me, made it feel predictable. Although, I did appreciate the twists in the story- those kept me on my toes!
Our story begins in a small town in Alabama where that town has a history...QUITE the history. A massacre at a high school in preparation for a homecoming dance takes place, and a young man has been placed with the blame.
Fast forward to the late 90s, we meet Alan McAdams and his sons, Thomas and Josh, as well as Alan’s father, Sim. Sim and his sister Charlotte were students at the time of the massacre. Weird things begin to happen in their small town in preparation for their own homecoming dance.
The storyline goes back and forth between the Jim Crow 1950s and the “present” time of the 90s. I like how the author did the timeline like this to keep up with what is going on.
I gave this a 4-star rating because in my copy of the ARC, I saw some spelling errors that threw me off, causing me to reread sentences a few more times to grasp what was meant. I don’t blame that on anyone.
There were moments in the story that, to me, made it feel predictable. Although, I did appreciate the twists in the story- those kept me on my toes!
bmacenlightened's review against another edition
5.0
This is a story of a small town in Alabama which has had a checkered past with regards to race. In the 1800s a witch was killed because of the color of her skin, and in similar fashion the town's 1956 homecoming massacre culminated in a lynching. Each of those events are linked with the McAdams family, though the current generation are trying to distance themselves from their past as decent people. Unfortunately as the 40th anniversary of the massacre approaches, strange events begin to happen and increase in intensity centered around the family making it clear that it'll take more than that to protect them.
This was a great story in a number of ways. It's somewhat Southern Gothic, with a ghost story, and witchcraft mixed in to make for a compelling read with plenty of excitement and creep factor. And, the characters, even the evil ones are written believably and at times that makes it hard to read but I think it was handled well.
Thanks to Netgalley and Crossroad Press for allowing me to request this book and voluntarily provide this honest review.
This was a great story in a number of ways. It's somewhat Southern Gothic, with a ghost story, and witchcraft mixed in to make for a compelling read with plenty of excitement and creep factor. And, the characters, even the evil ones are written believably and at times that makes it hard to read but I think it was handled well.
Thanks to Netgalley and Crossroad Press for allowing me to request this book and voluntarily provide this honest review.
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