Book #2: Mudbound

I've been enjoying the Southern Reading Challenge (3 books by Southern Authors in 3 months). Mudbound, a book published this year, really affected me. It has a huge following, but overall, I didn't like it. It was well written and interesting, but the negative things about it outweighed the good and I wouldn't recommend it.

First, it had a bit of swearing, which I hate.

Second, the despair and unhappiness of most of the characters was so overwhelming that sometimes, I was swallowed up in grief. Ronsel, the black soldier that heroically fought for our country, only to come home to the same bigotry he left, was too unjustly treated for me to handle. Laura, the voice of the book, had a life of compounding problems and dashed dreams. And her husband was basically a good man that ends up sort of cheated of his perfect future, too. I just cried for all of them, it was just too much for me. Obviously, I only like NON-SWEARING, HAPPY books!

Thirdly, I had nightmares, no kidding! I dreamed that my sweetest sister-in-law EVER cheated on my favorite brother-in-law. And I kept waking up, and re-dreaming the continuation of the dream, 3 times!! I've never had that happen before. It was so creepy, and I swear, the book triggered that! I think this book isn't for the faint of heart. Or maybe it's not for the heart that only likes to dwell in a perfect setting full of happy characters!

So that's my opinion on Mudbound. Take it or leave it.