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** spoiler alert ** I thought this book was an interesting read, but upon closer inspection, not a particularly good read. What I liked: the beginning of the book, the prose, the descriptions of wildlife, the character Kya, the set up of the story.

What didn’t work for me: the suspension of disbelief, the inconsistency of the writing—pointless descriptors in some passages, and lack of detail in others. For example, when her dad took the bus to see about his VA benefits. It seemed like Owens was about to set up a storyline with that detail, then it was dropped and never heard from again. Is that where her dad went? Why did we need to know about it? Another example: Jodie’s scar. Never mentioned in any passage about him until he reappeared as an adult. The older siblings who disappeared and were never heard from again and the wrap up of her mother and father were deeply unsatisfying. Many other examples of this throughout.

The Eliza Dolittle transformation of Kya from illiterate girl who spoke in southern vernacular to a woman who spoke in complicated scientific terms a mere few years later based on self study and a few hours per week tutoring sessions was completely implausible and took me out of the story. That this intelligent woman needed her attorney to draw her pictures to understand the court proceedings was incredibly strange. A self taught scientist who seemed to understand how the law worked (her exchange with Jumpin about why she never reported Chase’s attempted rape showed she grasped the complications of the criminal justice system in a small town) needed a cartoon to understand her own predicament? Very odd.

And the way that male characters were so dominant and other then Kya and Mabel (who was nothing more then a caricature anyway—and not even touching Jumpin� and the only other black character, the prison guard—way too much to unpack there) there was not one notable female character, yet no shortage of Christ-like men in her life. In short this book fell victim to what many other popular novels have: an author writing about things and dynamics she knows little about (domestic violence, child neglect, attachment, trauma, racism and the criminal justice system) and it falling short. This book desperately needed more editing. I commend Owens for her use of poetry and her knowledge of the ecosystem but this book fell flat on many levels for me.