"A good début"
Synopsis:
“Aggie is fifteen, a ‘sub’ from a ‘sub’ family, one of Texas’ downtrodden. Her father and brother enact that ‘sub’-ness on her, week in, week out. She has only the vaguest notion that there is something wrong with the abuse she endures and instead dreams of the outside world.
And then one day, Aggie walks out, and like the armadillos that flourish in Texas’ barren landscape, she is a survivor…
In her escape, she gravitates to those who are just as maltreated as her. They offer Aggie the sense of family, albeit a thoroughly dysfunctional one, that she’s been searching for. But when she gets embroiled in a crisis involving stolen money, Aggie soon realises there are some problems you can’t run away from.”
Once again, I want to thank the Publisher, Legend Press, for sending me a copy of this book in order to provide an impartial review as part of the Legend 100 Club. It’s not a book I would normally pick up to read and therefore I had no expectations at all but overall, I was pleasantly surprised although it is not a “happy” story rather one that is quite dark and intense.
This is a “coming of age” story about 15 year old Aggie - a strong, young, female character who is brave and wise for her years. The book is told from her perspective both the present and flashbacks.
Aggie is a survivor born into a dysfunctional family which she suddenly decides to escape from one day to undertake a dangerous journey to find a better life. She starts off in the Texan desert going from one truck stop to another using her experiences to survive before arriving in the city where she befriends “Freak” and moves into a squat full of colourful characters. It is during this journey that you realise Aggie is one tough cookie and very intelligent despite her upbringing. Despite her best efforts though, Aggie is not able to leave her past behind and there is an inevitability that she will return home and confront what deep down she already knows but has yet to accept.
I thought the book was extremely well written and flows really well resulting in it being easy to read. The author has an excellent ability to tell a story and to describe locations, situations and characters - she makes them believable and come to life off the page.
On the negative side, the story was interesting enough to keep my attention but I was left feeling something was missing. It’s hard to explain but I was reading with anticipation that something “big” was going to happen, it never really did and I felt even the ending was a bit of a let down and anti-climax. However, as I've said, I didn’t know what I was expecting as it’s not my usual genre - I am used to twists and turns and things being thrown at you in surprise - this isn’t that type of book but what it is, is an exploration of a young woman’s need to live a normal life and her attempts to get there - Aggie is a memorable character and I for one will remember her.
Overall, this is a good début and an author I will look out for in the future.
Publisher website: Legend Press
Author website: https://lynchpinpauline.wordpress.com/
Author twitter: @lynchpinpauline
“Aggie is fifteen, a ‘sub’ from a ‘sub’ family, one of Texas’ downtrodden. Her father and brother enact that ‘sub’-ness on her, week in, week out. She has only the vaguest notion that there is something wrong with the abuse she endures and instead dreams of the outside world.
And then one day, Aggie walks out, and like the armadillos that flourish in Texas’ barren landscape, she is a survivor…
In her escape, she gravitates to those who are just as maltreated as her. They offer Aggie the sense of family, albeit a thoroughly dysfunctional one, that she’s been searching for. But when she gets embroiled in a crisis involving stolen money, Aggie soon realises there are some problems you can’t run away from.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once again, I want to thank the Publisher, Legend Press, for sending me a copy of this book in order to provide an impartial review as part of the Legend 100 Club. It’s not a book I would normally pick up to read and therefore I had no expectations at all but overall, I was pleasantly surprised although it is not a “happy” story rather one that is quite dark and intense.
This is a “coming of age” story about 15 year old Aggie - a strong, young, female character who is brave and wise for her years. The book is told from her perspective both the present and flashbacks.
Aggie is a survivor born into a dysfunctional family which she suddenly decides to escape from one day to undertake a dangerous journey to find a better life. She starts off in the Texan desert going from one truck stop to another using her experiences to survive before arriving in the city where she befriends “Freak” and moves into a squat full of colourful characters. It is during this journey that you realise Aggie is one tough cookie and very intelligent despite her upbringing. Despite her best efforts though, Aggie is not able to leave her past behind and there is an inevitability that she will return home and confront what deep down she already knows but has yet to accept.
I thought the book was extremely well written and flows really well resulting in it being easy to read. The author has an excellent ability to tell a story and to describe locations, situations and characters - she makes them believable and come to life off the page.
On the negative side, the story was interesting enough to keep my attention but I was left feeling something was missing. It’s hard to explain but I was reading with anticipation that something “big” was going to happen, it never really did and I felt even the ending was a bit of a let down and anti-climax. However, as I've said, I didn’t know what I was expecting as it’s not my usual genre - I am used to twists and turns and things being thrown at you in surprise - this isn’t that type of book but what it is, is an exploration of a young woman’s need to live a normal life and her attempts to get there - Aggie is a memorable character and I for one will remember her.
Overall, this is a good début and an author I will look out for in the future.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Publisher website: Legend Press
Author website: https://lynchpinpauline.wordpress.com/
Author twitter: @lynchpinpauline
