Book Review - Backseat Saints

Backseat Saints by Joshilyn Jackson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have gone back and forth multiple times over my star rating for this novel. And here is where I tell you why:

First, Backseat Saints is the story of what it means to live in a marriage "made of swords." It is about the cycle of domestic violence and how it is passed down through generations. And, fundamentally, it is about a woman who is afraid that it has come down to killing her husband before he manages to beat her to death.

The main character in Backseat Saints bothered me a little. She was somewhat unsympathetic, which means that the author wrote her extremely accurately, because she was described as the kind of woman that other women had little time for or interest in. As the prettiest girl in her high school, she hadn't gotten along with the cheerleaders, or the loser-drinker girls either. She had a hard time throughout her life maintaining female friendships, until an elderly neighbor took her under her wing and treated her like her long-lost daughter or granddaughter.

Because I had a hard time liking her - even if it was obvious why she came by the personality she did, growing up in the house she did - I had a hard time liking her very much, although I did really like the way she loved her sweet, 3 legged dog. Fat Gretel - the dog - was probably my favourite character in the entire book. The problem was, there were other characters I just didn't like much either - I hated her husband, her father was pretty vile, and her mother was difficult to relate to and not terribly likeable either. The story, on the other hand, was compelling and kept me reading. But I didn't feel like I left this book wanting more - I was kind of glad it was all over, to be honest. And I didn't leave feeling like I'd left characters behind that I'd love to visit again, hence the lower rating.

This is one of those books that you feel like you should read, and should plow all the way through, because it is an important kind of story, but it wasn't, for me at least, one read with much passion or interest.

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