When I started this book I was kind of surprised that the timeline began in the 1950’s since the book cover does not really convey that. It is a coming of age type of story that starts with the narrator as a teen and takes us through her early adult years.
It was written well enough and held my attention, but still was not exactly a satisfying read. I found all of the talk about Southern Baptist preachers and eternal damnation to be a little tired. I don’t think any of us need to be reminded that there are some super religious people out there just waiting to tell us how the way we love is going to send us right to hell.
I’m also tired of seeing things like sexual assault and incest in lesbian fiction. The fact that the author has the narrator of the story wonder if the actions of her stepfather or her female cousin led her to seek the comfort of women is really infuriating and downright ridiculous.
And honestly, all this abuse and Jesus background could really have been summed up in a paragraph instead of making us dredge through it for several (did I mention several?) pages. Really tiresome.
It is possible that this is just a terrible intro to the whole Mandy series and that it gets a lot better. I can’t say that I intend to find out though. This first episode is currently free though, if it sounds like your kind of read.
If you are considering starting this book, you should know that it is the first book in a series, which means that you do not really get any sort of resolution in this book. It is also a short read at around 42 pages on the Kindle.
You can find this book, and others by author Mackenzie Stone, online on Amazon.