A friendship blossoms in adolescence and perseveres through adulthood in PAINT ME FEARLESS, the first in the Shady Gully series by Hallie Lee.
Desi and Robin meet in junior high school and gradually grow close, despite Robin’s initial misgivings born out of insecurity. Desi begins attending church for the first time with Robin, while Robin becomes fascinated with Desi’s mother, Sunny, a bohemian artist type who is somewhat out of place in Shady Gully, Louisiana. Their high school years feature the typical rites of passage — football games and a homecoming dance, underage drinking, first loves, and so forth — with the two girls always celebrating each other’s successes and supporting each other through challenges. After high school, Robin moves away, and the two pursue rather different paths, then an intense rift develops after Robin suffers a personal tragedy. The author leaves plenty of space at the end of the novel to expand on the story in the series to come.
In addition to writing a gripping plot, Lee provides substance in the form of themes and conflicts that many readers, particularly women, will find relatable and compelling. Robin struggles with a negative self-image because of her weight, and this issue haunts her throughout the novel, causing her to make self-destructive choices. Desi is touched inappropriately by someone she trusts while in high school, and the emotional consequences of this incident reverberate through her life and relationships. Religious faith becomes increasingly important to both women, with church serving as a port in the storm of their myriad troubles. However, Desi and Robin’s inner monologues rarely go further than surface level. This is a plot-driven book in which the characters suffer multiple setbacks and even catastrophes, not one defined by eloquent prose or refined characterization.
Some readers may feel that the book drags on at times. Tighter editing might have removed some extraneous scenes and complications, mostly conversations between characters that serve little to no purpose. Also, the narrative voice occasionally doesn’t ring true, with the young teen versions of the characters using words like “beleaguered” and “dilapidated.” This is not a significant flaw, but it can be distracting.
A friendship blossoms in adolescence and perseveres through adulthood in PAINT ME FEARLESS, an engrossing and heartfelt dual point-of-view novel, the first in the Shady Gully series by Hallie Lee.
~Lisa Butts for IndieReader