Great Southern Fiction

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katevocke Avatar


I really loved the premise of this one - several characters, natives to this Texas town, coming together for a huge county fair, while their hometown is slowly becoming more touristy and the lives they've always known of quiet country farming is disappearing. All of them have their issues, some are coming back after years, some can't wait to get away. Isn't that how all small towns are?!

There's a lot of background history here for a lot of characters - that all builds up to getting together at the county fair. And in more ways than one, almost every person is intertwined either by blood, friendship, children or love. I wished there was more of the fair though - I never really felt like I was "there". I definitely thought there would be more, but for some reason it was a very quick chapter. Its a lot of build up before, and the aftermath. I also kind of had trouble keeping track of so many characters. There were a TON of names thrown in in the very first chapter, and I felt a little bit lost until about 3/4 through. When I finally knew who everyone was- the book was over.

BUT the characters all had BIG personalities and I really liked them all - even the unlikeable ones! The story was really interesting ad kept me entertained, but I wish it had been more slowly told, so I could absorb everything a little better.

A really interesting piece of southern fiction that follows some really enjoyable characters trying to accept their Texas hometown changing as gentrification and tourism take over.