"A weak ★★★★� for me. The setting & stories are interesting, but in the end the whole thing felt needlessly complicated. Not only did I feel like there were ends left untied, but truthfully, I wasn’t even sure what all the ends were at that point. I’m OK with an open, unresolved ending, but this was just a mess. Overall, as I expect from McBride, there were some well-drawn characters and a lot of quirky, interesting texture to the insular society of Chicken Hill (and its environs). And if it were compelling enough to make me read it again, I’d probably be able to untangle a lot of what’s going on at the end. But I really doubt I’ll be doing that, so instead it’s just a really unsatisfying conclusion to an otherwise good book.
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The more I think about this book, the less impressed I am; I’ve dropped my rating down to ★★★☆�."