The Bright Lands: A Novel | 
pick4/5⭐️ Finally finding out what the Bright Lands are was absolutely nuts. Wasn‘t expecting all that! I loved the way the book paced itself with clues every which way but still never enough for me to figure out till the big reveal. I think I enjoyed Clark‘s POV best.
How I picture Deputy Starsha Clark (Navarro from True Detective season 4)
How I picture Kimbra Lott (Greta Bowie/Keene from IT)
pick🎧 BORING start. Too much football talk! Joel (successful gay man from NYC) left his conservative TX football town 10 yrs ago & returns to retrieve his 17yr old star quarterback brother Dylan.
Dylan is found dead & the story takes off. Joel sets out to solve the crime. The town folk are FB fanatics & they have a secret.
Last 1/3 was a creepy page turner. Tons of characters, a mediocre narrator, a twist & supernatural elements. ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/3 👇🏻
pickThis is a wild one. Writing is good but there are a lot of characters to keep track of. I love a Texas high school football Friday Night Lights kind of deal. This isn‘t quite that but I enjoyed it well enough. PS: this is not a feel good book and do not buy it for your football loving dad/grandpa 😳😨😅
panThe Bright Lands is set in a small Texas town, where the disappearance of the high school‘s star quarterback reveals deeper secrets that some of the townspeople are desperate to keep hidden. It is marketed as a horror novel, but it read more like a mystery story with a hint of an urban legend/supernatural element (that wasn‘t particularly well executed in my opinion). A disappointing read for me, but I‘m sure others will enjoy it. 2⭐ #TeamHarkness
so-soThe first 60% of this debut novel is an OK supernatural thriller that takes on small-town Texas football and the evil that can surround the team and it‘s boosters.
Fram lost me me when we enter the Bright Lands. I lost track of the point — were the homophobic monsters justified; and who the hell was Bosheth?
Final pages redemptive but, on the whole tho‘ muddled and disturbing to those of us who believe in the “it gets better” movement.
I keep copies of The Book Page in the basement for those times when I misjudge the wash/dry cycle & need to kill some time before I can switch the laundry.
This interview response by John Fram, when speaking about his novel “The Bright Lands”, really hit me.
so-soAfter all the hype, I found this book a bit difficult to get through. I admit it could just be me, but I found the numerous characters a bit overwhelming. Part of this is due, imho, to them all having the same “voice”, there wasn‘t much characterization to distinguish them from each other. Plus the supernatural element seemed a bit silly and superfluous. That said, the last third of the book was a page turner.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️/5
so-soThis book had the makings of something great...but It missed the mark with me...too many POV's, and only one narrator kept me hella confused.
❐ MURDER/MYSTERY/HORROR
❐ LITTLE PARTS VARSITY BLUES OR FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
❐ LITTLE PARTS STRANGER THINGS
❐ LITTLE PARTS QUEER
❐ LITTLE PARTS WTF!!!
❐ TEXAS + FOOTBALL + SOMETHING REALLY DARK & TWISTED
https://audiobookingwithleah.blogspot.com/2020/09/audiobook-review-bright-lands....
Going to start The Bright Lands and kind of switch between it and Wow no thank you. All I have heard about the bright lands was that it‘s like Friday Night Lights meets some sort of thriller and welp I‘m there.
panWhat in the world did I just read? Somehow I got through the 450+ pages of this because the first half to 75% had promise. Now I‘m just upset that I spent my time on this. I‘m not sure what the point was. I‘m at a loss for words.
pickPowered through this today! It is a supernatural thriller that starts as a bit of a slow burn and halfway through takes off and explodes like nobodies business. It is gritty, violent, touching, queer, loving, bizarre, the characters feel like real people, the emotional core is intense, and now I know why John Fram is referred to as Stephen Queen. Highly recommended!
