My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Endless questions from a shadow-filled East Texas childhood haunt Hadley Dixon. People said her mother, Winnie, was never quite right, but with one single, irreparable act, life as Hadley knew it was shattered. The aftershocks of that moonlit night left her reeling, but the secrets and lies had started long before.
When a widowed and pregnant Hadley returns years later, it’s not the safe harbor she expects. The mysteries surrounding a local boy’s disappearance remain, and the townspeople still whisper about Hadley’s strange and reclusive Uncle Eli—whispers about a monster in their midst.
But Hadley’s father and grandmother, the cornerstones of everything safe in her world, avoid her questions. If Hadley stays here, will she be giving her children the family they need, or putting their lives in danger?
The hunt for answers takes a determined Hadley deep into the pine forests, in search of sunlight that will break through the canopy of lies long enough to reveal the truth.
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I had some difficulties getting into this book. The first time I tried it out did I stop after a while and started to read something else. The second time did I still feel some difficulties, but I had seen that several of my friends had really liked this book so I decided to give it a shot. And, the book is OK. It's a tragic story, especially towards the end of the book. But, here lies the problem as well, the first half of the book doesn't have a big impression on me. The characters fail to come alive and I just feel that I was ill-suited for this book. I wanted to care for the characters, but I felt that they very not well developed enough to really make me feel for them. Still, the story was interesting enough and I did want to know what happened to the missing boy.
It's the last part of the book that makes me start to warm up to the characters, when bit by bit it all started to come out, not only what happened to the missing boy, but the truth about Hadley's family. I just wish that Hadley own life as a grown-up had been more explained, more detailed so that I felt that I've gotten to know her better. Still, there were moments towards the end when I felt deep sadness for her and the others around. Sometimes evil is not where one thinks it will be...
The Grave Tender is a book that for turned out to be better than I thought at the beginning. I can look back at the experience of reading this book thinking that it was worth it and I especially like the title of the book now that I know what it means.
I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review!
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