Valentine by Elizabeth Wetmore
Valentine was my LAST BOTM book EVER!!! Since I’m moving to Europe soon, I had to cancel my BOTM subscription and I’m so SAD about it!! I love the service, and IG has such a big BOTM community that whenever we picked new books for the month, it felt like a group event. I’m super crushed about it! But I’ll keep my eyes on future BOTM books, so I at least be reading the same books like everyone else.
SYNOPSIS
Mercy is hard in a place like this . . .
It’s February 1976, and Odessa, Texas, stands on the cusp of the next great oil boom. While the town’s men embrace the coming prosperity, its women intimately know and fear the violence that always seems to follow.
In the early hours of the morning after Valentine’s Day, fourteen-year-old Gloria Ramírez appears on the front porch of Mary Rose Whitehead’s ranch house, broken and barely alive. The teenager had been viciously attacked in a nearby oil field—an act of brutality that is tried in the churches and barrooms of Odessa before it can reach a court of law. When justice is evasive, one of the town’s women decides to take matters into her own hands, setting the stage for a showdown with potentially devastating consequences.
Valentine is a haunting exploration of the intersections of violence and race, class and region in a story that plumbs the depths of darkness and fear, yet offers a window into beauty and hope. Told through the alternating points of view of indelible characters who burrow deep in the reader’s heart, this fierce, unflinching, darkly funny, and surprisingly tender novel illuminates women’s strength and vulnerability, and reminds us that it is the stories we tell ourselves that keep us alive.
MY THOUGHTS
Valentine by Elizabeth Wetmore
I need to start off with saying that I don’t think there was anything wrong about this debut.
It was well written, eloquent, and had vivid descriptions. The setting was interesting, 1970s in Odessa, Texas and the topics of sexism, and racism made for a thoughtful and poignant story.
It just didn’t do anything for me.
None of the characters were coming off the pages. The writing didn’t captivate or enthrall me. And in the end I didn’t have any strong feelings for the book, neither good nor bad.
It’s one of these books that makes writing a review HARD!!!
Because there is nothing I can really say about the novel. Nothing that stood out. And it will be one of those novels that I’ll forget about, and move on. And I’m a bit sad about it.
Audiobook:
The audiobook was well done, and thanks to the audiobook I didn’t realize that the author apparently wrote the book without any quotations. Honestly, this would have driven me NUTS if I had read it as a regular book.
MY THOUGHTS:
Goodreads • Amazon • Author’s Website
DEBUT NOVEL
Valentine by Elizabeth Wetmore
I’ve been thinking about getting a book subscription!! Would u recommend BOTM? how much is it per month out of curiosity?
The cover for this one is so pretty! Loved your review 🙂
Hi Jamie, I think it depends on what you like to read.
Each month BOTM picks FIVE new or soon to be released titles that you can choose from. Those titles can be a mix of different genres, thrillers, fiction, romance, non-fiction, historical etc. If you don’t like any of the titles you can skip the month and use the credit, that you already paid for, for the following month.
Because there are only five choices, and some people love to read only a certain genre, it can be harder to find books to choose from. Many BOTM members use the opportunity to broaden their horizon by reading books from genres that they would not have picked otherwise. But as I said you can skip easily. They are not forcing you to pick a book if you don’t care for any of them. I sometimes skipped two months in a row, and the month after that I grabbed three books. Sometimes all five sound amazing. It always depends on how strong the month is publishing wise, and what books they pick.
If you go to https://www.instagram.com/bookofthemonth/ you can check out the titles they picked in the past.
BOTM is $15 a month, you’ll get one hardcover book, shipping is included, AND you have the choice of adding on extra titles, and those are only $10 each.
Because they are all new released titles, the $15 ticket price is pretty good, because they are usually $20 or more on Amazon and at stores. And the BOTM books are often early releases.
If you like being part of a community, BOTM is a great one to be part of. They have FB groups, people chat and post all day long, and they are big on IG/Bookstagram.
BUT, if you end up never reading your BOTM books, which I get the feeling some readers do just that. They add to their BOTM collection at home (because they look good on a shelf, and I feel like sometimes the BOTM book is the only book they read a month) but never read them. In that case getting a BOTM makes no sense.
I hope this long essay helped. But let me know if you have any other questions, I’m here to answer them. 😀
Wow thanks for the tips!! $15 a month is pretty reasonable! Plus I’m always looking to broaden my reading genres so I’ll def have to check it out! Thanks so much ☺️
You’re welcome 😀
oh boy, that looks like I wrote a blog post – lol
It’s frustrating when a book is just meh. Sorry this one was that way for you.
I had BOTM for like 2 months and gave it up. I think it’s only good for me if I truly want to read the book.
Exactly!! And for a mostly romance reader, I had to branch out. And I think most people have preferred genres, and since BOTM only picks from the books that are being released that month, it’s always a game of chance and never a guarantee.
But I LOVE the community of it all.
Yes, that’s the cool part of it all.
Wow…You are moving to Europe soon? That is so exciting. I have never tried BOTM. I am so sorry to hear that this story just didn’t work for you especially since it sounds like it had so much going for it.
I am 😀 it’s definitely a big adventure that’s ahead of me…..
BOTM is not for everyone, since their books are from all kind of genres, and it’s never guaranteed what genres will be picked each month. But I love the community, the idea of being a part of a HUGE book club. And it’s pretty cool to see what everyone picked each month.
Writing a review on a book you feel lukewarm about is always the hardest! 😅 But I enjoyed your review, and I’ll be passing on this one 💗😉.
haha – it’s really the HARDEST!!! I rather be passionate about a book, one way or the other, than feel nothing….