Cat Shook's debut novel opens with the funeral of Gerry, a husband, father, grandfather, and so much more, as we soon find out. This intriguing opening immediately gives way to a large cast of characters, as each member of the family and their significant others are introduced. It is a bit overwhelming but we catch on as the novel moves forward, since the bulk of the novel is exploring the relationships of each of these characters. The space of time is only a week, as the family tries to sort through their feelings of grief and celebrate the wedding of a neighbor and family friend at the end.
Some of the aspects I enjoyed were the character development and seeing a close, Southern family sort through many emotional themes. The writing is active and entertaining. Many of the scenes were touching and there was humor throughout, which flushed out what was otherwise one long week.
On the flip side, there was potential to do more with the characters in this setting, and I feel like this more difficult option was sacrificed in favor of a more surface, two-dimensional plot. The cast of characters seemed more like an inclusive check-off list of all the current social constructs: the closeted gay person, the handsome jock with a heart, the narcissistic want-to-be actress, the former cheer coach who exercises obsessively and suspects her husband of cheating, the homophobic former football star dad, the inter-racial high school sweethearts who get pregnant during a one-night reunion, the divorcee who struggles with getting out there again. The fact that these types came to mind while reading shows the characters come off as more trite than original. Also, the central plotline, if it occurred in real life, would have been WAY more complicated and brought with it much harder emotions than what was presented in the text. Again, it felt like it was the easy way out. And while I enjoyed the humor most of the time, sometimes it was really juvenile and cringy.
Overall, this book is readable and enjoyable, without getting too deep or complicated. Thank you to Celadon Books and the author for an advance copy of this story of a contemporary Southern family trying to be honest.
Some of the aspects I enjoyed were the character development and seeing a close, Southern family sort through many emotional themes. The writing is active and entertaining. Many of the scenes were touching and there was humor throughout, which flushed out what was otherwise one long week.
On the flip side, there was potential to do more with the characters in this setting, and I feel like this more difficult option was sacrificed in favor of a more surface, two-dimensional plot. The cast of characters seemed more like an inclusive check-off list of all the current social constructs: the closeted gay person, the handsome jock with a heart, the narcissistic want-to-be actress, the former cheer coach who exercises obsessively and suspects her husband of cheating, the homophobic former football star dad, the inter-racial high school sweethearts who get pregnant during a one-night reunion, the divorcee who struggles with getting out there again. The fact that these types came to mind while reading shows the characters come off as more trite than original. Also, the central plotline, if it occurred in real life, would have been WAY more complicated and brought with it much harder emotions than what was presented in the text. Again, it felt like it was the easy way out. And while I enjoyed the humor most of the time, sometimes it was really juvenile and cringy.
Overall, this book is readable and enjoyable, without getting too deep or complicated. Thank you to Celadon Books and the author for an advance copy of this story of a contemporary Southern family trying to be honest.