This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Reviewed by Amanda Rofe for Readers' Favorite
Oreads by John F. Lavelle is a fictional novel set in the Appalachian mountains in the 1960s. It tells the story of Cassie Wolphe who, as a tender teenager, falls hopelessly in love with Jake McCullom. Cassie wants to remain in the rural area where she has been raised, marry Jake and bring up their children. Jake has other ideas. He wants to escape the poverty and experience what he perceives to be a richer and better life elsewhere. This is a time of great societal change where the modern world begins to intrude on rural life. In the end, Cassie chooses to stay and Jake moves on. The repercussions for Cassie are profound. She struggles, first with the loss of Jake, and then with her life path choices which are influenced by the local community and the church.
This is a gritty novel of young people growing up in an honest rural farming community which is being stirred by the Vietnam War, the hippie movement and a new consumerist society. I could almost taste what it must have been like for those living at that time. John Lavelle writes a heartbreaking and very moving narrative. The dynamics between the teenagers teetering on the brink of adulthood was beautifully described. I loved the heroine who, despite her faults and the problems life threw at her, did the best she could. There wasn't a time when I wasn't on her side and hoping things would turn out well for her. Oreads is a superb coming of age story which had me spellbound from the very beginning to the very end.
