Serena

Serena's character was compelling at first but then kind of ridiculous and less nuanced at the end. Or maybe that's just because I got to know her better and she lost her mysterious appeal! Rash's writing about the landscape and the people transported me to the Smokies, and the many depictions of the process and result of timber clearcutting just made my heart ache. Still, a great read, especially if you love NC Appalachian landscape, history and colorful characters.

I couldn't put this book down. I can't remember how or why I came to be reading it, it's not something I would usually choose, but I think the fact that Jennifer Lawrence was going to play Serena in the film this year made me automatically assume it would be good! It didn't disappoint and, neither did the film although based on the length of the book, the film version was obviously drastically shortened.

This was another just “OK” read for me. I found the story to be interesting, in fact while reading it I felt it had a bit of a “There Will Be Blood” (movie) feel to it, but the two main characters were just so unlikeable that it really turned me off. I found most of the characters to be very one dimensional, with really only one that seemed to be fully developed and it was her character that kept me interested enough to finish the book. As I mentioned the story was interesting, but was often bogged down with boring passages about politics and land rights, so ya, Just an OK read for me...