Plot twists don't make up for bland characters. 

Horrible people do horrible things. Normal people do horrible things. Horrible things happen to horrible people. Horrible things happen to normal people.  And a lot of dogs die. 

This is just too much. 

I'm a sucker for a good heist but you know things will get twisted when you see how much of the book is left once the heist is done.

There is so much about this I liked but I think it goes on just a touch too long. 

Minnicks uses colorful language to describe most everything about New Jessup but at times I felt it was a bit too wordy. The setup provokes interesting thoughts about the meaning of equality. I listened to this and was surprised that the ending approached so quickly. I'm not sure what I was expecting to happen in the end but it didn't match the rest of the book for me.

A love story that isn't. A romance novel built around characters who know nothing about love. The writing feels like this should be taking place 75 years before it does which gives it a strange vibe that I enjoyed. This isn't a dark comedy but it certainly has those moments. 

I enjoyed learning about the places that shaped these authors. However, this book didn't inspire me to visit any of these towns or read any of the writers.