My Review of Open Country

Here's a brief description of the book from Barnes & Noble's website:

"The award-winning Blood Rose trilogy continues in a bold romance of the Old West by the author of Pieces of Sky.

From a "truly original new voice in historical fiction"* (New York Times bestselling author Jodi Thomas) comes the second novel in a passionate new saga of the three Wilkins brothers, living and loving on the dangerous American frontier. It's a tale of unlikely romance in an unforgiving land, where the greatest reward awaits those with the will to overcome all obstacles."

My Review:

While I'm giving this book a review, I must say that I didn't actually finish this book (which is why I won't give it a rating). There were a couple of reasons why I gave up on the book, which I would like to share with you.

First of all, there are a lot of swear words in this book. Several characters were taking the Lord's name in vain, and there were a couple of other swear words that were used rather frequently. Second, there were a couple of inappropriate/unnecessary scenes that I came across in just the first part of the book.

That being said, I was really intrigued by the characters and the plot. Warner's writing is engaging, and I appreciated the action that drew me into the story right away. However, I feel that there is a way to handle gritty emotions and real situations with authenticity without dragging the reader through the gutter, so to speak. I would cite author Julie Lessman as an example of how someone can tactfully handle "edgy" situations.

I "met" Kaki Warner on Seekerville, so when I saw this book of hers at Borders a while ago, I decided to give it a try. And while I think from what I read that her writing is good, I did not enjoy her use of language and inappropriate scenes, so I cannot recommend it.

*I should also say that I am aware this is not a Christian fiction book.*