June was a very strange novel. Indeed, if it weren't for the
fact that I received this book from the publisher in exchange for my
honest review, I likely would not have finished it. I had a very
difficult time getting into the story, which is always a turn off for
me, I want to be hooked right away. I just didn't particularly like or
care about the characters much. The main character, Cassie (yes I know
the book is titled June, but I still deem Cassie the main character),
was probably the hardest to like. Through much of the book she was in
some sort of depression or deep funk. She slept much of the time,
didn't take care of herself and let her house fall apart around her. If
you're not rooting for the main character, it's not easy to want to
keep reading, but I did.
Another strange thing about the book was
that the house that Cassie lived in, her ancestral home, was a
character itself, as though it were alive. The author, Miranda
Beverly-Whittemore, referred to the house as thought it had feelings and
memories. Even stranger yet though was that Cassie dreamed true
dreams, about actual events that occurred in the life of her
grandmother, June, before she was born. She saw the story of June's life as though it were a movie.
Not
strange, but disappointing to me was the way the author stereotyped the
lesbian character in the story, Lindie. She hated wearing dresses and
preferred to dress like a boy, even preferred rough and tumble boy's
play. Beverly-Whittemore also stereotyped the people in the fictional
town where the book took place. Being from Michigan myself, I can
definitively say that not everyone who is from a small town in the
Midwest is dumb, out of touch with the rest of the world, and serves
Kraft Mac & Cheese and instant potatoes to company.
The good thing that June
has going for it is surprise twists. I often didn't know where the
story was going and even up until the very end, was not sure how things
were going to turn out for the characters. I like that!
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