2 Minute Book Review: Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen

Reading time for this post: 1 minute, 30 seconds. Read it Later

Book: Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen
Author: Susan Gregg Gilmore
Audiobook read by: Tavia Gilbert

Since I haven't written in so long I thought I'd ease back into the swing of things with a short little book review. I don't give a review for every book I read but focus on the ones I really liked (our didn't) that aren't already on everyone's summer reading lists.

Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen was a sweet little story about a small town girl dreaming of escaping to the big city of Atlanta. But as she begins her adventure in the exciting metropolis she's brought back home by tragedy and life altering news, changing her perspective of the place she grew up.

What I did liked:
The characters I this story were likeable even at their worst. I found the main character, Catherine Grace a realistic portrayal of a girl. Too often I read stories where a character is exaggerated as a story device rather than a believable or relatable person. This book's characters have personalities that tell you their back story without needing the extra chapters and I appreciate that. It's as though the author is giving the reader a little credit for a change! I also appreciate an ending where you can assume the best but it isn't completely tied up with a big shiny bow.

What I didn't like: 

This story starts when the main character is in her early teens so the beginning felt a bit slow but was necessary for character development. Another gripe I had was that many of the characters names were very similar which made parts of the story a little bit difficult to follow but that is likely because up here in Washington, we don't typically use both our first and middle names in conversation. Also some, but not all, of the secrets were given away I felt a little too soon in the story.

Verdict: 
Read this one, it'll make you crave a dilly bar from Dairy Queen for sure but it's worth the temptation. This is a charming little coming of age story but with surprising depth and themes worth discussing with friends or in a reading group.