I was once told by a friend who grew up in Appalachia that it’s a place one can visit and love, but that one can’t deeply understand without having lived there. If that’s true, then this book is spot on in its portrayal as there are things I loved, but I’m not sure that I all the way understood it. 

Smothermoss follows two young sisters in a relatively poor family as they start to come of age. They are social outcasts at school due to their economic situations and each girl has a variety of idiosyncratic hobbies and  preoccupations that would make it harder for them to relate to children their age. While our MCs are young, this is in no way a YA book. 

Typically, I love when a book takes on complex themes and Smothermoss is full of them. It touches on sexuality, gender, poverty, sexual assault, eating disorders, and more. Unfortunately, this was a case where it felt like nothing got the attention it deserved because it was so jam packed. Add in magical realism and literary elements and you have a book that just isn’t quite sure what it wants to be. 

All in all, I feel like this was an ambitious debut where the author tried to pack in every idea she had. A bit more editing might’ve made this more successful. That said, I would consider reading this author’s next book as the ideas are definitely there.