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The Kept

James Scott

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Aug 08, 2016 Sera rated it really liked it

Shelves: literary-fiction, audio, own, library, 1st

Although slow on audio, I really enjoyed this bleak story about a 12-year old boy seeking revenge for the death of his family. The book is very well written and reminds me of Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West, except that it's set in upstate New York in lieu of the Wild West. Scott does a nice job of weaving the past with the present when telling the story and creates a cast of characters whose actions gave me goose bumps at times, especially the mother, Elsbeth. She is one of t ...more

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Jan 03, 2016 Dana rated it liked it

While I enjoyed the premise of this book, and started reading it on the back of raving reviews, I could not quite get into it. For one, the characters didn't quite resonate with me. Caleb's actions and thoughts portrayed a boy much older than 12 and Elspeth, for some reason, failed to win my sympathy. Often, I got mired in the long descriptions and overwriting and had to re-read paragraphs for clarification.

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Jun 14, 2020 Wes F rated it it was ok · review of another edition

This was an Amazon First Reads book, so we got it for free. Well, you get what you pay for, right? This book had an interesting concept, but was poorly written & developed. It dragged & dragged, on & on, without much plot or really character development. At times, it would sputter and seem to come to life, only to fall flat again and become boring & dull. There were often sections that shifted imperceptibly from the present to the past, not always clearly, making for some confusion in the time/c ...more

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