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Prayers And Lies (2013)

by Sherri Wood Emmons(Favorite Author)

3.95 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0758253249 (ISBN13: 9780758253248)

languge

English

genre

Young Adult Fiction

publisher

Kensington

review 1: Such a great book. I loved the way this author not only had us relating to the characters but also painted the scene. As a young child we all seem oblivious to the family secrets which become so glaringly obvious as we grow older and seem to run into them around every corner. What and how we deal with that knowledge is what makes us who we are. Nancy, Melinda, Tracy, their little sister Bethany and their little Cousin Rae Ann find a whole lot to deal with in this family and the villagers that help to keep them on the straight and narrow. The cliche "It takes a village" comes to mind when reading this story. There isn't a character in this book that doesn't really have a part in who everyone becomes as they grow up.
review 2: This novel features every catt... morey cliché you've every heard about Appalachia - uncles sexually abusing pre-teen nieces, rape, incest, alcoholism, & that all the inhabitants have the same DNA. (Yes, genetics plays a role in this story.) Characters are right off the shelf: when Bobbie Lee rides onto page 1 on his motorcycle with Joleen on the back I thought, "Aren't you two supposed to be in a Reynolds Price novel?" To make the story more annoying, the Audible reader talked in what I assume was a WV accent, which, as the narrator Bethany supposedly grew up in Indianapolis & therefore ought to talk like a midwesterner, sounded all wrong.) But despite its flaws, this book deserves four stars as a gripping story of a childhood friendship. I think Sherri Wood Emmons portrayed the world of a child who is experiencing a world that she cannot quite understand, especially as the grown-ups are trying to hide the unpleasant realities. I felt very sad for Bethany's sister Tracy. She does behave horribly but it's pretty clear she's a bipolar (we chaplains all think we're brilliant diagnosticians:) although the Appalachians call it "the bad blood." A very uneven book about a great relationship & family drama. less

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