The Weight of Blood

Book 25 of my 2019 Reading Challenge

read from February 28 - March 3

The Weight of Blood

by Laura McHugh

Summary (via the book jacket)

published 2014

Deep in the Ozark Mountains, folks in Henbane still whisper about Lucy Dane's mother, a bewitching stranger who appeared long enough to marry Carl Dane and then vanished when Lucy was just a child. Now on the brink of adulthood, Lucy experiences another loss when her friend Cheri disappears and is then found murdered, her body placed on display for all to see. Haunted by two lost girls - the mother she never knew and the friend she couldn't save - Lucy sets out with the help of a local boy to uncover the mystery behind Cheri's death.

My Opinion

4 stars

I was so uncomfortable while reading this because everyone was suspicious and every interaction, both in the present-day and in the flashbacks, just had this undertone of dread because I had no idea where the story was going.

I wavered between 3 and 4 stars and rounded up because of what a binge read it was.  The downside that made me consider a 3 was that everything came together at the end very neatly; while I appreciated knowing all the answers it was also pretty inconceivable that [no spoilers] would give up everything in a long confession and also that there wouldn't be more consequences.

Quote from the Book

"When Cheri turned up in the the tree, I knew uncertainty wasn't the worst part. It was a luxury, a gift. The worst part was knowing for sure that your loved one was dead, and I was grateful then that my mother's body had never been found. The mystery eats away at you, but it leaves a thin rind of hope."