by Ali Bryan
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The Crow Valley Karaoke Championships by Ali Bryan is a contemporary dark humor novel set in a small town in Canada. We alternate between the point of view of several characters.
It has been one year since the town of Crow Valley dealt with a horrible forest fire that claimed the life of prison guard and karaoke champion Dale Jepson. The community hosts a high-stakes karaoke competition in his memory. Hijinks ensue, including the escape of a convicted murderer.
The premise for this book really intrigued me, since I love karaoke and currently sing in the choir for a video game music orchestra.
There are so many different characters here, and they are fleshed out and not just caricatures. The five different narrators especially are all highly relatable in very different ways. Though it was a highly character-driven story overall, I was definitely interested in reading further just to see what would happen next.
It was an enjoyable read, but the beginning especially moved pretty slowly for me and I think I would have had a better experience if I was listening to the audiobook. There were also a lot of characters we were juggling, and I got confused a few times.
CW: suicidal ideation, grief, physical and emotional abuse (referenced in the past)
I received a copy of this book to review. All opinions contained herein are my own.
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