writesdave 's review for:

Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell
4.75
adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Ree Dolly has ascended to the pinnacle of American literary heroines as she tracks down her deadbeat addict dad to save her family's house. It's an amazing odyssey in a forgotten part of America, one I would not have even considered were it not for Woodrell's firsthand experience in that rural hellscape. The prose is beautiful, at times over-the-top, and the plot moves quickly. In essence, a uniquely American novel about hardscrabble Americans struggling in a world threatening to leave them behind, but somehow finding a way.