Girls in Trucks

Yellow Light Ahead

I'll start my review by stating I didn't like this book. Not because it is bad in the grand sense of the word but rather just bad for me. I wholeheartedly admit that I felt slightly deceived by the synopsis on the back cover. The way I read it the story was made to sound lighter than it actually was. In reality the biting-humor advertised fell short on me as I waded through the darker tone and dysfunctional situations. It was simply not what I was expecting nor would it have been a book I would have chosen to read had the notes on the back portrayed that darker tone a bit more.

Despite the above, Crouch did a great job of developing an extremely complex set of characters. Most importantly her protagonist Sarah Walters is as multi-layered as it gets as she struggles to find what she considers the perfect life for herself. It is she that the reader follows from an awkward girl through her coming of age as part of the Cammelias and then into womanhood. It is this dysfunctional journey that shows how skilled Crouch is as a writer as she portrays Sarah with a sensitivity that makes her rootable. Often times I found myself hoping things would finally turn around for her and that she would finally work through her myriad of addictions (men, alcohol, etc.) to find peace, solace and ultimately happiness.

If you are looking for a book that delves a bit more into social structures and how they influence our psyche and the way we navigate life I think this book would be a good selection for you. Further if you are interested in intricate character development you'll enjoy Girls in Trucks a great deal.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

A raw, down and dirty, must read!

I was pleasantly surprised by this book! It captured moments in time that shape a very unfortunate womans life. Life is made up of moments.... The flow was great and the characters popped out of the pages and sat next to me on the couch. Enjoy!

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Disappointed

I was really disapointed in this book. I had to make myself finish reading it; it just wasn't what I had expected from reading the the back.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Almost a good book

This is almost a good book. The main plot gist has promise: Girls who are raised to be pleasers often seek to please the wrong men. The main
character, Sarah Walters, is a very slow learner. I liked her better as
a girl and the first two chapters are engaging. Her sister's character
is believable as a high school golden girl who falls for the first man who treats her badly and manipulatively. All this drinking and pot smoking got very old very fast. There was no progression in character
whatsoever in anybody. Hopefully, the author will learn more before writing her second book. Some of the chapters were so uninteresting and amateurish that I'm surprised the publisher included them.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Random, choppy, disorganized

I had high hopes for this books. I love Southern humor, and coming of age tales are usually pretty easy to get through when I'm reading on the bus. Girls in Trucks starts off telling the story of Sarah Walters, a Southern debutante who does not particularly want to follow the 'coming out' way of life. The book then proceeds telling her life story, always turning back to her Southern roots. I did not like that the author jumps from point to point, with little or no background information to inform the reader. At times, I had to go back to jog my memory about a certain character or event. There was no organizational flow. The book also switches from first person to third person randomly, which confused me. Should have stayed with first person throughout. Easy book to get through, but very random tales threaded together with no details.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Not the best, but amusing

It's a good read, not completely wonderful but I liked it just the same. I spent a number of years down south when I went to college and I was able to somehow relate. A part of me missed the slow-paced and hospitable southerners. Not bad at all.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A reviewer

I went into this book with an open mind. I was expecting a book with hardships, and critcism of an elite society. I think that the author is a eloquent writer and even produced a book that was page turning however, i thought the plot and take away from the book was horrible. The author tried to include too many plots into the novel, and was unable to establish enough of a story. She brushes over the characters college experience, her relationship in new york, and even her relationships with her family and friends. I think that there were good aspects of the book (her description of a southern girl going to school in the north) however there were too many hardships occuring without enough background or effective message. Overall, a book has never depressed me as much and left me with no important message. I felt that this book was horrible, but still have faith in the author to develop a better book in the future.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A reviewer

This is clearly a first novel. The author's frank, tell-it-like-it-is, writing style draws the reader in, yet almost slaps them as she changes voices, story lines and themes. It reads more like a series of short stories with characters that are related to the narrator, but not necessary to her story. Both the writing and the editing seem to be lacking, leaving you with a story that is splashed about on canvas with nothing more than a confusing image and pity for the main character. As an avid reader, and a woman who relates greatly to the subject matter, I was disappointed that the story did not better represent or inspire me. Hopefully, a second novel will have better transitions and more attention to continuity. That might be what the author needs to score a home run.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Scattered and pointless

I love to read first attempt from authors, I am so often rewarded with a gem that I come to love and recommend to everyone. Girls in Trucks is no gem, not even close. I finished the novel, hoping against hope that something would happen I could care about. Zero, nada, nothing.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Sad

Very depressing book and really about nothing!! I would not recommend this to anyone.

Recomended

It was a good book. Depressing in some spots. You want to root for her so bad, but she just keeps doing things that make you think, 'well, she deserves what she's getting then.' I liked Men and Dogs more. I do have to say Katie Crouch knows how to write through interesting perspectives and stories.

Depressing

I would not recommend this book. I thought it was very depressing and overall not good. The story line jumped around a lot and the characters were not what I expected after reading the back cover.

Not what it seemed

Like others, I loved the synopsis of the book - it sounded very Southern, coming of age, funny, etc. All things I love to read. Instead it was a depressing tale of a girl who seems to know who she is at 15 but loses that knowledge shortly after in a haze of booze and pot and never figures herself out again. Not funny at all, just a downer.

March 18 2011

did not like this one sarah and the rest seemed to think oonly of themselves the people came across without souls

Hilarious? I think not.

Okay. I'm sounding really old here, but the worst thing about this dreadful book is that it could actually be a young woman's autobiography. Sarah values nothing and acts accordingly, destroying everything in her path. I found this a most depressing peek into the psyche of a twenty-something. Yep, it's true. The world IS going to hell in a handbasket!

Different- Everyone should read it

When i was looking at getting this ook i thought it would be about a high school southern girl getting away from what her mother wanted her to be. When I read it it wasn't at all what i expected. Was it bad? No. Was it the most amazing book that I've ever read? No. But this book makes you think. Honesly I think people should read this book its off the beaten path and I think you'll find that when you finish it you'll be glad you did.

A great read from a new author!

I'll admit, when I first started reading Girls In Trucks, I was less than enthusiastic. I found it to be slow-moving, irrelevant, and random. Instead of ceasing to read, I continued and I'm glad to say I did. This book is not the type I would normally read; however, it has grown to become one of my favorite books.
Crouch's attention to detail adds to the elaborate characterization of the main character Sarah, a former southern debutante, and makes me feel like Sarah is my best friend. I laugh with her, I cry with her. I can hear her voice and internal monologue as I read through her narration. Some may not enjoy that fact that most character emotion is concealed throughout the novel, but I enjoy the mystery and inferences I have to make. It is all show and not tell which always keeps me guessing.
I also love Crouch's wit and sarcasm. Generally, the novel is definitely not the most uplifting, but at more than few points I would find myself laughing at Sarah's thoughts and actions. Her use of word choice really brings light and humor to a somewhat depressing novel.
The only problem there may be with this novel is the tiny group of people this book would appeal to. This book appeals to mainly to women, not old but not too young either. Given the cover and title, I doubt many men would want to read this book and would probably be even less interested in reading once they had already started. However, I enjoyed the novel without complaint.
Girls in Trucks may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I thoroughly enjoyed the short-read. It was thought-provoking, shocking, and funny and I'm not sure what more I can ask for!

Oooooops!!

It was foolish of me to continue reading this book through to the end. I would categorize the writing as lacking in nuance and the story line as rather elementary. If you like to read about sex, booze, cigarettes, drugs, sex, and booze, this book is for you.

GIRLS IN TRUCKS... INTERESTED IN READING THIS BOOK... KEEP ON DRIVING..

Being a South Carolina girl myself, I had high hopes for this book... South Carolina writer (although now living elsewhere), set in Charleston.... Oh well, so much for hopes. I have been a frequent visitor to Charleston, having friends and family in that sublime city and the wealth of storyline material there is staggering. To waste it on the depressive plot lines that this book followed is something slightly short of tragic. The writing in this book was annoyingly graphic, dismal and went absolutely nowhere... but then so did the plot. If you are interested in reading about dysfunctional, drugged out, alcoholic Southerners - this is your book! If you would like a good story, strong depth of writing and fresh approaches to the often insane intricacies of Southern life - it would not be my recommendation. I am personally not sorry for trying something unknown and new - especially in the Southern fiction category. But this book was unfortunately not a winner. I sincerely wish Katie a better book for her next release. It's obvious that this writer has talent. Hopefully her next effort will be more balanced.

Girls in Trucks

I actually liked this quirky book with a real character. Sarah Walters is a Southern Belle who leaves the south behind when she heads North for college. While there, she not only got an excellent education, but she learned how to party with the best of them and fell for the worst men around. As the years, and pages, go by, Sarah comes to terms with the fact that she will never live up to the Southern Belle expectations that her parents and others have set for her.

The book is written in a series of disjointed snippets of memories. It is almost as if the narrator, Sarah was either writing her story in a journal or speaking with a therapist. The snippets sometimes start and stop abruptly, causing some confusion if you really aren't paying attention. Sarah's story is dark and at times twisted, yet you can't help but feel compassion for the woman with self-destructive tendencies.

I didn't dislike Girls In Trucks, it wasn't what I expected yet it took me into a world totally different from the one I live in. And isn't that what reading fiction is all about?