What do readers think of Home Sweet Home by April Smith? Write your own review.

Hmmm...Interesting overview of the McCarthy days, an
under covered subject whether fiction or non. Smith's approach seemed to bring forward a one sided appraisal of the political situation. Is it a reminder that we have always been so divided in our attitudes? At any rate, it was an average read (happy to have the ability to scan) but I wouldn't recommend it to my book club.

I had mixed feelings about this book. The author did an excellent job describing life especially ranching in a small insulated community in western South Dakota. I also enjoyed her descriptions of the community and their reliance on each other.
I found the story and plot a little off putting. It moved slowly for the first 2/3s of the book. Life in a highly conservative community and the impact of McCarthyism was perhaps overly developed. On the other hand it described a period in western history little known and understood.
Those interested in the impact of Mccarthyism on rural America would find this book very interesting.

April Smith's novel is more of an ideological treatise than an historical novel. One side is totally self-serving, cruel and harsh, while the other is totally value-centered goodness. The progressive message via flat characters became so pervasive, it disallowed the picture of McCarthyism and the cold war to come alive.

The story itself lacked development and finesse. The second generation murders had a very weak link to the overall plot. The trial lacked intrigue and suspense. The final chapter tied just too neat of a bow for me.
A saving grace is Smith's ability to turn a phrase. Her lyrical descriptions of the land provided a softness to a book devoid of endearing qualities.

Perhaps she should stick to murder mysteries.

Even though I found out that this book retells a very sad part of history here in the United States, the era of
McCarthyism, I have to say that 60 of the story was boring. It got to a point that I got tired and lost interest, although I continued reading on only to find out how history tied into this murder and also because of my responsibility with reviewing this ARC.
Overall the story seemed a bit pointless, even though it did have some history, I couldn't see the ties to the murders. I would not recommend to any Book Club, I don't see that it would make a good discussion. Also, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, even though it's a person who loves History, Suspense or crime books.

Idealistic liberal NYC couple and children relocate to conservative North Dakota town in 1950s. The story is created around the Kusek family's personal tragedy in the 1980s which was assumed to be based on past clashes of conservative vs. liberal misunderstandings and the fear and hatred involved. For my taste, the story was portrayed as sanctimonious and had too much flashback. A lot of the book was enjoyable, but in the end the story seemed too self-righteous and fell flat.

If you want to read a political diatribe, then read this book. The dialogue, descriptions and characters are wooden and stereotyped. I thought the book was written by a first-time author until I realized she had written several other books. Her one-sided viewpoint of history was not acceptable in a novel. She should stick to writing murder mysteries, not commentaries on political parties. I would not recommend this book to my book club. Either you agreed with Jackson's point of view or disagreed. No room for discussion,.