The Widows of Braxton County...Review

About the book:
Family secrets can bind and destroy
Kate is ready to put her nomadic, city-dwelling past behind her when she marries Joe Krause and moves with him to the Iowa farm that has been in his family for more than 140 years. But life on the farm isn't quite as idyllic as she'd hoped. It's filled with chores, judgmental neighbors, and her mother-in-law, who—unbeknownst to Kate until after the wedding—will be living with them.

As Kate struggles to find her place in the small farming community, she begins to realize that her husband and his family are not who she thought they were. According to town gossip, the Krause family harbors a long-kept secret about a mysterious death that haunts Kate as a dangerous, unexplainable chain of events begins.

So many books sound appealing and then just fall short of your expectations.  This was an inherently sad novel.  The story alternates between the past and present and the stories are very much parallel.  Murder then, murder now. Kate unsuspectingly marries into a family of abusers and her excitement at marriage and what she sees a freedom from her abusive, demanding grandmother quickly turns sour.  She struggles to fit in and find her place, her mother-in-law is mean and belittling, her husband isn't as charming as she once thought and her new family harbors a long history of secrets and the family home may be haunted.

There were a few things I liked, but this was one that I just didn't enjoy. I loved Rose and Will and liked Kate when she finally got a backbone.  There was a bit of a twist at the end that I admit I didn't see coming and I like how it ends, but it's not one I can really recommend.

Thanks to TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to review this book.  You can learn more about Jess McConkey here.  You can purchase your own copy here.  You can see other more positive reviews and tour stops here.

Tuesday, July 23rd:  Dwell in Possibility
Thursday, July 25th: 5 Minutes For Books
Monday, July 29th: Kritters Ramblings
Tuesday, July 30th: Tiffany’s Bookshelf
Wednesday, July 31st: BoundByWords
Thursday, August 1st: 2 Kids and Tired Book Reviews
Monday, August 5th: A Dream Within a Dream
Tuesday, August 6th: Excellent Library
Monday, August 12th: Tina’s Book Reviews
Tuesday, August 13th: Peeking Between the Pages
Wednesday, August 14th: No More Grumpy Bookseller
Thursday, August 15th: Becca’s Byline
Friday, August 16th: Sweet Southern Home
Monday, August 19th: The Reader’s Hollow

Read 7/13

* *
2/5 Stars

Comments

  1. I'm sorry to see that this one wasn't quite your cup of tea, but thanks for being on the tour.

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  2. Too bad you didn't like this one. I'll be reading it soon - well listening to it so I hope I'll enjoy it more.

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  3. I try to stay away from sad books. I don't mind if a book contains heartbreaking scenes but I have to feel it is still uplifting in some way or I won't enjoy it.

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  4. I didn't come away from this book feeling like it was entirely sad, I guess because Kate was already beaten down when she married an abusive man. It made sense to me that it might take her some time to figure out how to change her life for the better.

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