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timna_wyckoff's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book. It had some of the same feel as "Broken for You" but I found the characters in this one more compelling and the overall story more fascinating. I highly recommend it!
candacesiegle_greedyreader's review against another edition
4.0
The dead play minor roles in this novel about a family whose mother vanished in a tornado and whose father is struck by lightening. The novel is set in a Welsh community in Nebraska, one of those places with unusual ethnic traditions that is just roiling with characters. "Sing Them Home" is nice and long, and very readable. Stephanie Kallos creates interesting characters and tosses in just enough commentary from the dead to add spice to the story. I have so say, as someone who just lost a parent, her view of what happens after you die is comforting and something I think my mom is definitely enjoying!
karenleagermain's review against another edition
3.0
I picked up Stephanie Kallos’ “Sing Them Home” at a Goodreads book swap at Book Soup. I had read Kallos’ first novel and was very excited to read her follow up. This was a quick read and although it dealt with very serious issues, it felt more like a summer beach book.
Kallos is a talented writer and I would not hesitate to pick up her next book. I think that I felt like the story and characters were a bit muddled. Almost like the story was too grand in scale for its own good. Some of the characters, like Larken, had far more interesting conflicts. I found the Welsh funeral traditions to be extremely interesting. The book was very quirky.
Kallos is a talented writer and I would not hesitate to pick up her next book. I think that I felt like the story and characters were a bit muddled. Almost like the story was too grand in scale for its own good. Some of the characters, like Larken, had far more interesting conflicts. I found the Welsh funeral traditions to be extremely interesting. The book was very quirky.
coralrose's review against another edition
3.0
This is a book purportedly about grief, about three children who have lost their mother tragically, and how their adult lives have been shaped by this loss. But really, it’s a book about wallowing. Larken wallows in food and the imaginary life she leads with her married neighbor man and his daughter. Gaelen wallows in body-building and manipulating women while living the dream of a small-town weatherman. And Bonnie lives a carefree child-like life in her hometown, looking for signs from her mother in every piece of trash that floats by.
This book was so hard to read. It was long, it was decently well-written, but even the writing is wallowy. It meanders through a story that didn’t need 450 pages to set up and then suddenly brings everything together in the last 50 pages so fast you wonder if Kallos just ran out of patience with her own characters.
This book was so hard to read. It was long, it was decently well-written, but even the writing is wallowy. It meanders through a story that didn’t need 450 pages to set up and then suddenly brings everything together in the last 50 pages so fast you wonder if Kallos just ran out of patience with her own characters.
elizcgregg's review against another edition
3.0
While this was a beautifully written story with deep and fascinating character development, the book was slow and not as engaging as Broken For You, her first novel.
sbubbletrouble's review against another edition
4.0
I was daunted at first by size and the trouble I was having getting into it, in truth I almost returned this book to the library within the first few chapters but I persevered and it paid off. Kallos gives you little bits that you piece together throughout the novel and I was a little sad when it all ended. I think this is a book I will re-read, which is an unusual thing for me.
ldv's review against another edition
4.0
You have to get through the first section that describes the Dead Fathers and Dead Mothers and sounds eerie and strange. Then you get pulled in to the events surrounding three siblings, their mother, their father's common-law wife, and their small town. The characters appear flat, at first, but they wonderfully break through their stereotypes to reveal a lot of depth. The narrative takes on flashblacks through the mother's diary entries, but mostly follows the lives of the siblings as they live out the year following their father's death.
I enjoyed the book immensely. Nothing too heavy, but not trivial, either.
I enjoyed the book immensely. Nothing too heavy, but not trivial, either.
idratherliveinbooks's review
The author was trying too hard to be whimsical and lyrical with the book and it failed. I could barely stomach chapter 1
sheila_p's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this book almost as much, and in some ways more, than her first book, "Broken For You". In both books the ending were a little too neat and tidy but I'm glad it turned out that way, I like the characters and would feel sad for them if it were different. I'm such a sap.
steph_davidson's review against another edition
2.0
I started and stopped this at the first chapter many times. This time, I was determined to get through it. My interest waned at times, but then I'd get sucked back in. But by the end, I was just annoyed that I'd wasted so much time without any satisfaction. It almost seemed like it was written by two different people: one for the philosophizing, another for the characters. I kept wondering when some revelation was going to drop, after so many hints, but it never really did. Plus, I wanted to kick Bonnie in the taco by the end.