so-soI received an autographed copy as a giveaway from LitHub. I agree with @Misanthropester that this book never rose to what it could have been. Lee piqued my interest with talk of using Gerard Manley Hopkins poetry as lyrics but then dropped it. He also had great descriptions of what it‘s like to clean hotel rooms and in the future I will be leaving generous tips for those folks doing that thankless job.
so-soLike the characters, this story never rises to what it could be & squanders what brilliance it has in favor of merely occupying space. A grand banality
90% of the novel written to get to this point, the heart & theme of the work, & it doesn't get the treatment it deserves
The strongest parts of this novel are the fee insider moments on being a musician, the pragmatic over the romantic
Also, Lee is using a lot of low-hanging fruit humor (and that's being generous bc it's not even approaching dad joke lvls) that's just boring
A third of the way through this novel & there's way too much 'telling' & very little 'showing'
Lonesome Lies Before Us | 
