Everything I'd heard about this book said that it was brutal and gory. Not really. It was set in Appalachia but I don't think the author has ever been there. The basic geography was wrong, (they talked about going "up" to Charleston and NC from WV), the specific geography was wrong too. How are there no hills in Appalachia?

The big machinations are obvious from half way through the book. The main character was completely unsympathetic, which I don't think was intended. I feel like what she was going for was the story of putting chains on a baby elephant. They can't break them. once they're grown they can, but never try. It didn't work for me.

I did 3 stars because it was a page turner and well written, it just didn't live up to the hype.