Catherine Lusk

This is my least favorite of any Barbara Kingsolver book I have read. I really love this author but I felt “Unsheltered” lacked the depth her other books have had. Sure, the story told of challenges, strong feelings, conflicts, etc. But it fell flat for me. I did not feel the characters were particularly complex or interesting, nor were any of them endearing to me. I almost didn’t finish it - sort of raced through the last third - but it was interesting enough that I wanted to see how the stories (two stories separated by time, happening in the same neighborhood) would end. By comparison, Kingsolver’s “Demon Copperhead is such powerful book. I cared so much about what was happening to the characters, especially Demon. The characters were deep and complex. The realism was eye-opening. I will always treasure “Demon Copperhead,” “The Poisonwood Bible;” and (even though I read it decades ago) I still love and think about “The Bean Trees.” In my opinion, these are much better choices if you want to read the remarkable, talented and eloquent Barbara Kingsolver.