Quirky Cat
Revival Season, written by Monica West, is one of those novels that came to my attention thanks to the sheer number of genres it seems to fit into. According to Goodreads, it has tags for literary fiction, Southern fiction, adult fiction, religion, contemporary, feminism, and more.
Every summer for fifteen (plus) years, Miriam Horton and her family have packed into the family car and headed to a small town in the south. It was a religious trip for the family – literally. They're traveling to see famous Southern preachers, after all.
However, this latest summer has shaken Miriam and her belief to the core. The revival she was expecting didn't quite happen, and instead, Miriam was witness to something horrible and unforgettable. Her doubt and confusion only grow once her family makes it back home.
Revival Season was both a fascinating and difficult read at times. Miriam's voice was easy to understand and appreciate; it was more the events happening in the world around her that made it hard to swallow it all. Especially considering how believable some of those circumstances were.
This was a complex tale, as it should be. Events in this story forced Miriam to reconsider her faith, and that is never an easy experience. I'm sure that it was difficult to write and was probably very hard for some readers to read.
I loved the feminist messages woven into Miriam's narrative. That alone would have kept me reading, even if everything else got too much for me. So thank you, Monica West, for those brilliant moments.
Thanks to Simon & Schuster and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.
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