Reading this book felt like settling in to eat a big, old brownie and then discovering it has, like, a bunch of zucchini in it, like one of those mommy blogger recipes. It's a mildly unpleasant surprise, but still a brownie. I signed up for a capitalist revenge arc with Kate Brauning's *The Ballad of Dinah Caldwell*, but by page count this was more of a poly romance? The best comparison I can make is if Katniss dated both Gale AND Peeta, and also wasn't spending all that much time on the Hunger...

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at MidnightOkay, Dinah Caldwell needs a serious break, folks. This poor woman has been through the wringer, honestly. She's living in the Ozarks, in a super rural town. And frankly, I didn't realize how far into the future this was set, because it feels pretty true-to-Ozarks, at least as I imagined it. But basically, the decades since our time have been rough. Some massive corporation owns literally...

I received a DRC (Digital Review Copy) directly from the author in exchange for an honest review. Representation: pansexual polyamorous white protagonist, queer German-Dominican tertiary character, Dominican tertiary character, white German tertiary character, queer Lakota Oglala tertiary character, Ghanaian tertiary characters, queer Ghanaian tertiary character, tertiary characters of colour, queer tertiary characters, asthmatic tertiary character. Content Warning: violence, death, grief, los...

2.5 StarsNote: I received an advance review copy of *The Ballad of Dinah Caldwell* from the publisher via Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed here are my own.I really wanted to enjoy this one. Seriously. The setting in the near future, in the Ozarks, combined with a strong revenge theme: it sounded like it would be a wild, engaging, and impactful read. Instead, the plot felt messy and unfocused, quickly overshadowed by romance. And not just any romance, but explic...

The Ballad of Dinah Caldwell absolutely delivers on its promise of motorcycles, moonshine, and good old-fashioned revenge. Dinah is a character that anyone who's dealt with loss or trauma can connect with. You immediately understand her need for revenge and how all-consuming that quest becomes. From the very first page, this book grabs you, and the need to know what happens next will have you flying through the chapters. Amidst all the chaos of plotting to take down the man responsible for her s...

"He had bought everything and paid for nothing, but he would pay for her family.She'd stop his heart. She'd take his lungs. She'd break his neck for what he'd done."This is a powerful story of grief, sparked by a money-hungry titan who wields absolute power over Dinah's community. Her family, friends, neighbors – they're all barely scraping by with him taking a cut of every profit they manage to make.Dinah struggles to provide for her family, carrying an immense weight on her shoulders. Every da...

What a thought-provoking novel about a brave group of people taking back their town and county from a bully. I use the word bully because that's precisely what Gabriel Gates is. He's power-hungry, greedy, wants everything, and leaves everyone else with very little or nothing. If he doesn't get what he wants, he and his cronies get violent. The novel kicks off when Dinah's mother is assaulted and then murdered by Gates, all for a water well on their property. This sets off a chain of events that ...

I mean. I liked "The Ballad of Dinah Caldwell". That's it. Kate Brauning's "The Ballad of Dinah Caldwell" just... worked for me. I'd recommend it if you're looking for a character-driven historical fiction read.

Kate Brauning utterly captivates with Dinah's voice and the immersive world she creates in *The Ballad of Dinah Caldwell*. This revenge story worms its way into your heart with a fiery blend of family bonds, relentless perseverance, and a touch of backwoods moonshine. The thrills in this one kept me burning the midnight oil. A total #bookrecommendation. If you're looking for a great book review, look no further!

I'm so hyped that *The Ballad of Dinah Caldwell* is finally getting released! I've been lucky enough to read different versions of this novel over the past few years as Kate Brauning was perfecting it. This definitive version is seriously going to blow you away. It's packed with motorcycle chases, combines the size of city blocks, and a wild, anarcho-future-western Ozarks setting that feels all too believable and incredibly dangerous. The characters are what really make it work, and you'll be ro...