Midnight Cactus
Feb. 15th, 2023 01:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearMidnight Cactus by Bella Pollen is about a woman named Alice who moves herself and her two young children from London to an abandoned mining town in Arizona, with the intention of renovating it as a holiday village. She quickly gets embroiled in local politics and the conflict between landowners and those trying to help Mexican refugees crossing the border.
I liked Alice as a protagonist - she had a fair few flaws but I related to her struggle to find a place in the world, amidst conflicting obligations and desires.
The world of this remote community in Arizona was very well-drawn and immersive, though I didn't necessarily feel like the relationship between Alice and Duval had a particularly believable progression and I wasn't invested in them having a future by the end of the book. Which turned out to be useful, since the ending was very nebulous and I was left wondering what was going to happen next (and not in the 'life goes on after the book' way that can be very effective).
There were aspects of the children's involvement that worked well - but they both seemed very mature for their ages to me (not emotionally, but in terms of how they spoke and the concepts they seemed able to grasp), though I don't have much contact with children so who am I to say?
So, certainly well written with regards to the main character and the setting, but I'm not sure I can say it was entirely successful for me in terms of a satisfying plot.
I liked Alice as a protagonist - she had a fair few flaws but I related to her struggle to find a place in the world, amidst conflicting obligations and desires.
The world of this remote community in Arizona was very well-drawn and immersive, though I didn't necessarily feel like the relationship between Alice and Duval had a particularly believable progression and I wasn't invested in them having a future by the end of the book. Which turned out to be useful, since the ending was very nebulous and I was left wondering what was going to happen next (and not in the 'life goes on after the book' way that can be very effective).
There were aspects of the children's involvement that worked well - but they both seemed very mature for their ages to me (not emotionally, but in terms of how they spoke and the concepts they seemed able to grasp), though I don't have much contact with children so who am I to say?
So, certainly well written with regards to the main character and the setting, but I'm not sure I can say it was entirely successful for me in terms of a satisfying plot.
