Negative Positive
Title: Disappointing
Review: I liked "Empire Falls" and I loved "Bridge of Sighs." However, "Mohawk" is a disappointment. It reads like a first draft of "Bridge of Sighs." Many of the same elements appear in both books: a quiet boy as a central character, delinquents who extort money from their peers, a legendary fight that puts one boy in the hospital, a popular teenager who leaves home and lives in a flat above a store, a community poisoned by the local tannery. I could go on.Everyone has to start somewhere. As a first novel, this book certainly showed promise. However, Russo has found his voice in far better novels. "Mohawk" is poorly constructed and the characters are not particularly well drawn. (Why on earth would the beautiful, intelligent Anne marry a doofus like Dallas Younger?)If I were Russo, I would insist that the publisher move this book to the out of print list. I sure would like to get my money back.
Is the review positive or negative? 