"I'm learning the things I worry about only matter when I worry about them. So I don't worry about them."
⭐⭐⭐
Thank you to BookishFirst and Kensington for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Content warnings: murder, sexual assault/rape, teen pregnancy, abortion/miscarriage mentions, parental abandonment, racism, housefire, car crash.
Wild Women and the Blues is a fusion of historical and contemporary fiction in this dual POV story about two individuals: Honoree Dalcour (set in the 1920s), a jazz dancer struggling to accomplish her dreams of working at the Dreamland Cafe when she ends up in the midst of a murder mystery of sort and Sawyer Hayes (set in the 2010s), a film student dealing with the grief of losing his sister while desperate to get his life back in order by catching his big break interviewing the elderly Honoree Dalcour.
I enjoyed the author's writing style, and I did find myself caught up in Honoree's story and whether she achieved her dreams, what happened between her and Ezekiel, what becomes of her roommate, etc. Unfortunately, I had very little interest in any of Sawyer's chapters until the very end (although I did like Lula!) A main struggle for Sawyer/almost all we know about him is that he sees his sister's ghost, but that seemed easily/oddly resolved in a way that made me wonder why it was a part of his character in the first place.
The plot itself was interesting, and I didn't see the second to last plot twist coming, but the final and 'big' plot twist? It didn't seem to have any reasoning at all other than to try to throw the reader. I read another review that said they would have enjoyed the book more if it was 2010s Honoree just telling her story to Lula, and I wholeheartedly agree.
I would read more books by Denny S. Bryce, and I would recommend this to book to lovers of 1920s historical fiction who enjoy dual POVs with a dash of mystery!
⭐⭐⭐
Thank you to BookishFirst and Kensington for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Content warnings: murder, sexual assault/rape, teen pregnancy, abortion/miscarriage mentions, parental abandonment, racism, housefire, car crash.
Wild Women and the Blues is a fusion of historical and contemporary fiction in this dual POV story about two individuals: Honoree Dalcour (set in the 1920s), a jazz dancer struggling to accomplish her dreams of working at the Dreamland Cafe when she ends up in the midst of a murder mystery of sort and Sawyer Hayes (set in the 2010s), a film student dealing with the grief of losing his sister while desperate to get his life back in order by catching his big break interviewing the elderly Honoree Dalcour.
I enjoyed the author's writing style, and I did find myself caught up in Honoree's story and whether she achieved her dreams, what happened between her and Ezekiel, what becomes of her roommate, etc. Unfortunately, I had very little interest in any of Sawyer's chapters until the very end (although I did like Lula!) A main struggle for Sawyer/almost all we know about him is that he sees his sister's ghost, but that seemed easily/oddly resolved in a way that made me wonder why it was a part of his character in the first place.
The plot itself was interesting, and I didn't see the second to last plot twist coming, but the final and 'big' plot twist? It didn't seem to have any reasoning at all other than to try to throw the reader. I read another review that said they would have enjoyed the book more if it was 2010s Honoree just telling her story to Lula, and I wholeheartedly agree.
I would read more books by Denny S. Bryce, and I would recommend this to book to lovers of 1920s historical fiction who enjoy dual POVs with a dash of mystery!