Tent Revival – Edmund Stone

3 stars

After reading this, I can say with absolute certainty that I will not be attending any tent revivals! All of my parts need to stay exactly where they are, thank you very much!

Tent Revival was an interesting book. A big white tent suddenly appears in small town Kentucky with a sign proclaiming a tent revival the coming Friday. Meanwhile, Sy Sutton breaks his son out of the mental hospital, where he’s been in a coma since his fall into a large sinkhole near the mine, but not all is well with Allen Sutton. Rebecca has her hooks in him, and this small town is about to have a revival the likes of which they’ve never seen before

Parts of this were a touch clunky to read. The execution of Patty’s character was the most egregious for me, though. She presents herself as a lesbian who just got out of a relationship to come to Sy’s place and make amends for what happened with his son at the hospital. In the same night, she impresses Sy with her moonshine drinking skills, and within the next day or so, they fall into bed. If you are a lesbian, you don’t just decide one day that you’re not. And if you’re bi, as Patty further states, sure you might lean more towards one gender more than the other, but you certainly don’t represent yourself as a lesbian then decide later just kidding! Any good will I felt toward her character to that point evaporated.

Some of the relationships were a bit rushed to me, but I’ve never really been a fan of the instalove trope in general so that may not be as major to some as it is to me. 

Tent Revival was still a fun read despite the above. I loved the found family aspect of it, and the glimpses of what living in a smaller town is like, where everyone knows everyone and everyone’s business. This is book 1 of a series, and I am definitely interested in reading further to see what happens next!