"The Stepford Wives" but for the whole town. I consumed this wayyyy too fast but it was so riveting and interesting and I felt the panic of the story every page

This one was hard for me to get into. It started off in a weird place - with the MC's uncle rather than with the MC., so that really threw me. I also didn't care for the writing style as it was kind of distanced from the MC - almost like omniscient POV, but not quite. I did think the concept was intriguing and others may enjoy the mystery, this one just wasn't for me.

This is a spooky and interesting read. A rich YA novel with a spooky atmosphere, you won't want to put this down.

Sadly I just couldn't get into this title. I read a few chapters but moved on after this as it just wasn't gripping me. Sorry

The Town was an okay read for me. I honestly couldn't connect with any of the characters though and I tried really hard to do so. In it, you will meet Emma. The only cute thing about her... is the dog. That's pretty much it. I loved the dog. No one else.

Don't me wrong, this book did give off some creepy vibes in the form of Mr. Barry. Other than that, I just wasn't invested in the book or what was actually going on. The characters don't really do anything in this book because it lacked so much character growth for everyone involved. Yeah, Emma wanted to escape this cult community.. but I wanted to escape out of this book even more.

An interesting premise that doesn't quite develop as much as I would like.
I would like to know more about how the Town works!

Some good characters, who could use a little more development, but an enjoyable read!

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Town was an okay read for me. I honestly couldn't connect with any of the characters though and I tried really hard to do so. In it, you will meet Emma. The only cute thing about her... is the dog. That's pretty much it. I loved the dog. No one else.

Don't me wrong, this book did give off some creepy vibes in the form of Mr. Barry. Other than that, I just wasn't invested in the book or what was actually going on. The characters don't really do anything in this book because it lacked so much character growth for everyone involved. Yeah, Emma wanted to escape this cult community.. but I wanted to escape out of this book even more.

Luckily for me, I had the opportunity to finish this whenever I could. So I broke out the wine and found a way to salvation. In the end, I tried.. but nope - not for me.

I just want to say thank you so much to Emily Honeycutt and the publishing company for letting me read this wonderful book! And a BIG thank you to NetGalley for giving me an early copy of this book!

Synopsis:

After losing both of her parents in a car accident, Emma Pool moves in with her Uncle Dean in a strict society known as The Town.Under the rule of Clyde Barry, the people of The Town fall in line, and adhere to Mr. Barry’s commands, until Emma arrives and immediately begins to shake things up. Unable to live under the tyrannical rules of Mr. Barry, Emma is determined to shed light on the wrongdoings in The Town. Armed with the strength of her parents, and her German Shepherd, Cooper, Emma changes The Town and its people forever.

I am always down for a strong female lead with an adorable side kick pup to take on the wrong doings of others and sticking it to the man! After going through a devastating loss of her parents our main character has to move in with her next of kin. She moves into this town where is run by a man where it is his way or else. And it doesn't sit right with her. So she does the best thing possible and takes on the man himself..

I enjoyed this book and the actions of our protagonist as she is working to take down evil all the while sorting through her feelings and her heartache of losing the people who were her life! I cannot wait to see what is next for this author! thank you again!

Sadly my phone which I was using to read this book screen had broken and so sadly I couldn't finish the book because it was past the archive date and I couldn't download it onto a different device. I only got a chapter or so read but the storyline was hooking, I really wished I could of finished this book.

The Town has an interesting premise: a teenage girl must move with her uncle due to her parents' death in a car accident and he lives in the cult-like village that her parents fled years before. Emma was your average teenager until tragedy struck and she has to leave her home, school and friends for The Town. Outspoken and questioning authority Emma finds it hard to fit in the strict confines of The Town and its leader mercurial leader Mr. Barry. Why is he focused on Emma? Will she conform or risk everything to find freedom? These questions and more are answered in Emily Honeycutt's new release.

The premise, as mentioned, is interesting and has a lot of potential. Something early on I noticed is the lack of description and character development. There is not much insight into how The Town works, location, details or specific characteristics about its inhabitants. The pace moves along quickly and there is mystery and intrigue, with better character development and a more defined perspective (at times this shifted and it was difficult to discern whose perspective we were reading at certain points) the story would be stronger. It does read as geared towards the YA genre with the caveat there is a decent amount of violence towards the end. Overall this is 2.5 stars but potential is there.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

(actual rating 2.5/5)

After the sudden loss of her parents in a car crash, Emma moves to The Town, a strict compound where the people are forced to follow controlling and unfair rules, as well as the place where her parents lived before she was born. As Emma spends more time in The Town, she resists against Mr. Barry (the leader)'s totalitarian control, and tries to help the others blindly following him as well, while making some allies of her own.

While this book certainly has an interesting plot and touches on various topics (including limiting women's rights), however, that's not to say there aren't problems. Personally, I didn't like the writing - it only told the story and didn't do much more than that; there was no description, no figurative language, and not much character development either.

The story was intriguing and the plot was mostly gripping. The setting and Mr. Barry definitely gave me that gross "wrong" feeling, as was intended, and the main idea being presented (not going along with things just because everyone is doing it; questioning things that don't sit right with you) was well portrayed, too.

I would recommend this book to other younger YA readers, as long as they can handle the content.

All opinions in this review are my own and do not represent the views of the author or publisher.

I couldn't get into this one. The premise of a girl being forced to move to a society known as The Town with an uncle and her dog is interesting. However, I just couldn't get into it. I had to force myself to finish this one.

This book was good, don’t get me wrong. However, it also made me super uncomfortable so many times. Without getting into too many spoilers, this book touches the subject of social isolation, setting women’s rights back decades, without the religion aspect that you would expect.

I would recommend this book to a certain type of person, but I know that there are many people who wouldn’t feel comfortable reading this for one reason or another.

It’s hard to go too in-depth with this book without actually spoiling the vast majority of the story. Which is fine, but just keep in mind that the synopsis does a good job to paint a picture for this book. And if any of those things make you too uncomfortable, I wouldn’t recommend reading this book.

Unfortunately couldn't get into this one. I think the topic is intriguing but the writing wasn't for me. DNFd @ 30%

The Town follows Emma, as she suffers the loss of both of her parents due to a tragic car accident. She moves to "The Town" with her dog Cooper (Coop) to live with her uncle Dean. She befriends some of the fellow children her age but as her time progresses there she butts heads with Mr. Barry who is in charge of the Town.

Emma quickly becomes isolated from school and other children due to Mr. Barry's sick obsession with her parents, especially her mother.

Overall, the way that Emma and Blake's relationship developed was pretty fast, an it was a little odd that she didn't even notice him the first few days she was there. I would have enjoyed a slower progression with their relationship.

I was also pretty surprised how much time lapsed with Blake and Dean allowing Emma to stay in the Town knowing how creepy Mr. Barry was. Mr. Barry was a total creep and dictator. Was really surprised to see how many rational adults were willing to follow his lead for so long even when he physically hurt the kids.

I was happy with the ending and LOVED her dog Coop. Always great to see a dog survive and help rescue their owner during moments of peril in books.

2.5 stars.

This story would be better suited to younger YA readers, I wouldn't recommend it to adults.

I thought the story of this book was pretty good. I liked the setting of the 'town'. It definitely gave me that 'off' and 'sickly' feeling, I felt like I needed to escape even more than Emma did. I also hated Mr. Barry, so mission accomplished there as well.

My main issue with the book was the lack of character development and descriptions in general. Aside from having blue eyes and short hair, I still have absolutely no idea what Emma actually looked like and the same can be said for every single other character. We get Blake's hair colour, and, that's it. Who are these characters? How old are they? Are they tall? Did they have big noses? Did some of them speak with accents? There's also not much of a description given of the town itself.

To love a book, I need to feel connected with the characters and the world. I struggle to do that, when I cannot properly see them. I found myself not caring about any of these people, aside from Gabbi. I think Gabbi was hands-down, the strongest character of the bunch and I really wish she had more page time.

The other thing is.. most of (not all) the rebellion from Emma's part, is really just normal teenage rebellion, regarding things that would happen anywhere, on the outside. No teacher is going to let kids strip off and jump into a lake on an excursion. Not being able to see your friend on the weekend due to bad behaviour, is the same as being grounded.

My point is.. I just wish the author had really pushed the envelope when it came to the issues within the town and the rules they had to follow.

It was an interesting premise for a book and the writing was solid. I found the story incredibly hard to get into and the characters were hard to relate to (lack of development etc). Ended up skimming most of it as I hate to DNF.

I really wanted to love this book and did love the beginning. However, it then became very tense and I was just waiting for something bad to happen. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to finish the book and wouldn’t recommend it to the age group specified.

From the very beginning, this book was a mess. Third person perspective is usually great, but not when the perspective shifts multiple times within a paragraph, to the point where there was no mystery or suspense in the story. All the tension that was supposed to have been created dissipated as soon as I heard a whisper. I found that Dean and Emma weren't really that likeable, and even though we got glimpses into their heads, they had very little depth. None of the characters had much depth and Mr. Barry, the villain, was the easiest of all to figure out. I expected Cooper, the dog, to be more involved in the story, but he was ignored most of the time. This whole novel existed in some kind of vacuum with subpar writing and random plot points that didn't add up to any kind of strong finale. I was looking forward to suspense, but this was difficult to swallow. Also, it was impossible to tell Emma's age. She's certainly less than 18 because her uncle Dean is her guardian, but the writing makes her come across as thirteen or fourteen. However, the cursing interspersed in this novel makes me think that she's older than that, probably 17. I only finished this book to see if the ending was any better than the beginning set it up to be but I was wrong.