As a woman born and raised in the heart of Appalachia, I had high hopes for this book, especially as it seemed to be about strong, special women and not the usual, the Appalachian drug epidemic. Alas, I was yet again let down. From the start, it seemed overly wordy and …more descriptive. The characters started out promising, but I ended up liking two, neither of which was a main character. As an Appalachian who overcame a very humble upbringing with amazing female role models, I was yet again disappointed by the overall theme, disjointedness and confusion of this novel. It could have been great, but fell flat for me. (less)