The Ballad of Dinah Caldwell

By: Kate Brauning

Narrated by: Jean Ann Douglass

Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

Nothing is more dangerous than a girl with nothing left to lose.

Dinah Caldwell has been filling her father's role since he abandoned their family four years ago. She and her grief-stricken mom run their subsistence farm deep in the Ozarks, making sure her younger brother never has to worry. Until the day Gabriel Gates, who owns everyone in Charlotte County, kills her mother to steal her family's well.

Homeless, heartbroken, and alone, Dinah only has a single razor-sharp goal: revenge. And now that Gates has put a 10,000-dollar bounty on her head, she can't trust anyone, but she also can't take down the most powerful man in the mountains by herself.

Her only allies are Kara, Dinah's best friend and secret crush, and Johnny, a young bootlegger who has as much reason to hate Gates as Dinah does. With their help and resources, and maybe even love, she can spark a revolution and set the whole county free - if their combined secrets don't get them all killed first.

©2021 Kate Brauning (P)2021 Tantor

Enjoyable!

A family trying to make ends meet is torn apart in the worst way by a control-hungry tyrant who could care less about the destruction he leaves behind in his quest for more power.

A girl who lost almost everything in the blink of an eye, who has just enough determination to still fight, even if she has to do it alone.

A love interest with his own priorities, yet enough courage and altruism to risk his own neck and help the cause, despite the losses he already suffered.

The conflicting priorities of people who are used to being under the thumb of this seemingly unstoppable evil, with some who choose to tow the line and some just looking for a good enough chance to rebel.

Put these all together in a tension filled narrative that mingles deep emotion with an onslaught of obstacles, and you have an engaging tale with equal shares of wins and losses.

SPOILERS / CRITIQUING THOUGHTS

While the apparent throuple resolution felt a bit rushed and a bit too accommodating for the protagonist, it still felt like an "earned" ending given everything they went through, which in these days I feel doesn't happen too often. While unexpected, it wasn't a let down for me, especially since (from my experience) it's an uncommon ending to a romance story arc.

The sex scene was awkward, but I expected nothing less given their circumstances. For what it was, it was VERY realistic, and I appreciated that. (That being said, having your own private hot spring was a tad TOO convenient).

I REALLY liked how the big bad (Gabriel Gates) was just a normal man. Powerful, but not almighty. It made the story emphasize normal relationships, normal yet heavy consequences, and normal/realistic outcomes based on the human mindset.

A story of triumph over tragedy.

Rooting for the underdog. A poor, farming community have to live under the thumb of a rich man who has the corrupted law and goons at his beck and call.
Dinah has to find the strength, through grief and hopelessness she vows to fight back.
she has to rally all the friends and neighbors she can to help her rise up and take back thier life and farms. Love, teens growing up too fast. good verse evil.
I personally love how powerful the oppressed came together, how open the dynamic of love was in this book.
great read.