From the cover of this book, one might expect to read a Western, or maybe a Western romance. What you get is actually more of an adventure story with a little bit of amateur romance thrown in.

It is the 1970’s. Add in a teenager in a Mormon family and the boy she thinks she loves, and you have what sounds like a teenage love story, but it is actually an adult novel that left me feeling like I wanted something more. I’m not really sure what, but this book didn’t quite fulfill the expectations I had for it.

What attracted me to this book was the “cult” feeling I received when reading the synopsis. A young girl sneaking around with her illicit lover, caught, and then married off to someone who she barely knew. You had me at “married off”.  I didn’t really feel like this book focused a lot on that point though, and rather was preoccupied with more of an action-packed story.

I’m sure this book will attract many people, and that many readers will love it. It simply wasn’t my cup of tea.  

Review of an Advance Reader’s Copy

This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Penguin Press HC

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  3 religious exclamations; 3 mild obscenities; 1 derogatory name; 21 scatological words; 9 anatomical terms; 24 F-word derivatives.

Violence/Gore:  An angry father slaps his daughter; characters poison wild rabbits that are causing a nuisance; a loved one is mentioned to have died; characters kill rabbits in a savage way, blood and gore is involved; a character injures their foot. 

Sex/Nudity:  A man has sex with his wife who is a minor; a man has multiple wives; a character notices a woman is not wearing a bra under her shirt; minors kiss and touch each other in a few different instances; mature sexual discussions are had.

Mature Subject Matter:

Racism, marriage, personal crises.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

Beer is drunk; adults smoke; a woman is mentioned to be drunk.