Book Review: Tallgrass

Title: Tallgrass

Author: Sandra Dallas

Category: Fiction, World War II, Mystery/Suspense

Length: 305 pages

My Rating: 4

From Goodreads.com: During World War II, a family finds life turned upside down when the government opens a Japanese internment camp in their small Colorado town. After a young girl is murdered, all eyes (and suspicions) turn to the newcomers, the interlopers, the strangers.
This is Tallgrass as Rennie Stroud has never seen it before. She has just turned thirteen and, until this time, life has pretty much been what her father told her it should be: predictable and fair. But now the winds of change are coming and, with them, a shift in her perspective. And Rennie will discover secrets that can destroy even the most sacred things.
Part thriller, part historical novel, Tallgrass is a riveting exploration of the darkest--and best--parts of the human heart.

My Thoughts

My first Sandra Dallas novel was The Diary of Mattie Spenser and I loved it so, so much. It really resonated with me and, years later, I have strong emotions when remembering it. I keep picking up Sandra Dallas books hoping for a strong connection, but have had no such luck with her other books, although I have found some of them very entertaining and quaint. 

I was really excited about this one. I have always felt extreme anger and sorrow about the Internment of the Japanese during WWII, so I was looking forward to reading a book with this as a backdrop. Unfortunately, the whole thing just fell flat. The characters were one dimensional — no one seemed to change or learn anything, and everyone was either good or bad — and I didn't care about any of them at all. I was most curious about Marthalice and she was absent from the family entirely but for a few letters. The writing did not bring me into the story at all. I was not able to picture the town or the Stroud farm. It was like a soap opera with a lot of drama but not a whole lot actually happening between the murder and finding out who did it.

Lastly, you can't help but think of To Kill a Mockingbird while reading it and, well, there can only be one To Kill a Mockingbird and this book doesn't even come close. I really think I'm done with Sandra Dallas. Her books just do not keep my interest anymore.