⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 3/5
Thank you Random House for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley! All opinions are my own.
In Téa Obreht's newest novel, we follow multiple characters interacting with the mysterious, remote town of Sunrise, Wyoming, across three points in the past hundred years. Obreht's detailed, descriptive writing quickly piqued my interest and I was intrigued to find out the town's secrets. However, before I reached the quarter mark, I got the feeling much of the character backstories weren't critical to the core plot. These backstories were interesting, and could loosely be seen as adding to the character development. Yet, my engagement began wavering without enough bread crumbs to build discovery and momentum. Ultimately, I didn't find the story to ever tie together in a satisfying or particularly novel way. The book might have benefited from prioritizing a more complex story around the town of Sunrise first, then using all characters to support that vision. Instead, the few clues that were presented were vague and spread out; the crucial plot pieces needed to be more bluntly laid out.
Readers who enjoy literary, historical fiction might still find fulfillment here. Obreht's style and depth overall make her a writer I would like to read more from.
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