
Member Reviews

Thank you to Net Galley and Lake Union Publishing for the chance to read and review this book!
This is the first book I have read by this author, but it won't be my last.. The writing and the story were incredible! At first I wasn't sure if this was my kind of book, but it didn't take long before I was wrapped up in this story and couldn't wait to see what happened next. I really liked the setting (the South) as well as a little Gothic Suspense thrown in. I also liked the theme of evangelism and how all the people believed Dove could perform miracles. I really enjoyed this book-a little supernatural, a little mystery and lots of suspense thrown in!

This book kept me up late at night. It was very suspenseful, and I couldn’t wait to see what happened next. I loved that the story was set in the South where I live.

The perfect mix of southern drama in the 30’s mixed with evangelical wonderment and a modern day mystery. Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters is a great novel, unlike anything I’ve read. It kept me engaged and turning the pages.

I was a little disappointed in this book. I don’t know what I was expecting but I felt it was did not fill that void. I realize that the subject of evangelicals and faith healers is both difficult and borderline eerie to write about, I just did not feel the characters were relatable. The book was written in the first person by the granddaughter of Dove, the evangelist and faith healer dove told the early parts of the story and Eve, her granddaughter told the rest. To me, the different stories were very disjointed. I feel like I missed the middle, the “meat” of the book. I just couldn’t get into the book. Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union for allowing me to read an advance copy for my honest review.

What a great continuation of Burying the Honeysuckle Girls! Part sequel, part prequel, it alternates between the 1930s narrative of Dove Jarrod and the present narrative of Dove's granddaughter, Eve. Eve is working on a documentary about Dove who was a traveling evangelist with her husband, Charles. She was known as a great faith healer, revered by many, and still much loved even years past her death. But even though she's family and runs the Dove and Charles Jarrod foundation, Eve has long known that it was all a sham. It's a dark secret she keeps while maintaining a fierce loyalty to her family in the public eye. But the truth she thought she knew is more than she could have imagined.
Through Dove's narrative, we learn about her youth, born and raised in Pritchard, the infamous local asylum which she escapes as a teenager. After living rough and barely surviving for a few years, she finds work watching over a wealthy elderly man. She befriends his granddaughter, Bruna, who she later joins with to become the Hawthorne Sisters, a traveling faith healing duo, and precursor to her later days with Charles. But Eve? She and her family knew about none of this. They always believed she went straight from Pritchard to California where she joined up with Charles. How and why did Dove keep this part of her life hidden for so long? And why is a man threatening to expose the truth about Dove - claiming she's not just a fraud, but a murderer? Will Eve be able to protect her family's legacy by discovering what really happened back in the 1930s or will the truth destroy them all?
An incredible story that spans generations, Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters is a beautiful southern tale of family and faith. The author vividly transports you to every destination, fully capturing the sights and scents of this southern region with the sweet honeysuckle and the blooming white hawthorn trees. I've never been to the area described in this story, but it sure felt like I spent time there upon finishing this book. It's an engrossing mystery that comes to a satisfying and bittersweet conclusion. I hope this author has many more stories to tell and I cannot wait to read every one of them.

This is the first title from Emily Carpenter I have read.
When I first started reading Reviving The Hawthorn Sisters I didn't know what to think to be honest. After the first chapter I was a tiny bit confused to where the characters fit in especially Dove as I thought her timeline moved quite quickly, but! I am glad I stuck with it. It took me a very short time to read as I couldn't put it down, the story sucked me right in!
I enjoyed every character in the book. I thought Ruth was a fantastic little fighter, well done to her for getting over the struggles of life and coming out on top.
The story itself had everything I like in a story. Lost treasure, a little love, a little loss, murder, dysfunctional families. I am most definitely going to look up the author and see what else I can read!

This is the first book I have read of this author. This book got my interest from the first page and kept my interest to the last. I really enjoyed this book and Im looking forward to reading more.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49541764-reviving-the-hawthorn-sisters

I loved this Southern Gothic story. I had read the previous book to this and I love the author. This is a great story about families and what you believe in. I love the descriptions of towns in rural Alabama. The author’s description helps me visualize them in my mind clearly. It is a very good read about religion and revivals in the Deep South during desperate times.

I loved this book and Emily Carpenters writing. I loved the setting in Alabama and love the multilayered story and characters especially Ruth.
Very good new novel by this author

Thanks to Net Galley for a free ARC of this book, publication date October 20, 2020.
Set in present day and in 1930’s Alabama, this is a part historical and part modern day mystery. I loved the back and forth of the chapters and the different points of view in each. What I enjoyed the most was Carpenter’s portrayal of the south in all of its glory and ugliness.
The mystery had me guessing throughout the entirety of the novel but I what I really fell in love with was the main character Ruth and her reluctance to ask for help all the while helping most everyone she came into contact with. Ruth’s relationship with her best friend Bruna, not to mention the beautiful descriptions of the south, were so reminiscent of the beloved Fried Green Tomatoes.
Emily Carpenter is a must read author for me and I was so excited at the opportunity to read and review her newest southern gothic tale. I’ve adored everyone of her books but I believe this one is my favorite. Do yourself a solid and preorder it. You will fall in love with Ruth, her friends and her foes. You will get lost in a beautiful Southern gothic story.

I absolutely loved this novel! I found many writing passages to be incredibly thought provoking and the characters are layered with complex personalities. This is my first time reading Emily Carpenter and I am intrigued to read some of her other works.
This novel is going to be a star once it comes out in the Fall.

Thanks to NetGalley for this free ARC (publication date: October 20, 2020) of this southern gothic thriller.
This honest book review is my own.
This was a really cool, really different, really unique book. The book description does a great job setting the stage: "Dove Jarrod was a renowned evangelist and faith healer. Only her granddaughter, Eve Candler, knows that Dove was a con artist." But was Dove a murderer?
This book takes us on a twisted path from Dove escaping the psychiatric hospital where she was born, to forming the Hawthorn Sisters (her first steps into the faith healing world), and her marriage to Charles Jarrod - leader in the evangelist world, to her modern-day family and all of the many connections that still exist.
Flipping back and forth between Tuscaloosa 1934 and present-day world where Eve is helping make a documentary about Dove (while trying to uncover Dove's web of lies and possible murderous past) - this is such an amazing ride into this family legacy - with a little bit of supernatural tossed in.
I loved this book, and I highly recommend it!
[5 out of 5 stars]
#RevivingtheHawthornSisters #NetGalley

What in intriguing story! Set between present day and the past, the story alternates narrators to compliment each other as the story unfolds. I loved the character, Dove, as her strength was tremendous and helped her succeed in her life. Eve sure did learn a lot in her examination of Dove’s life. I would highly recommend this book. Thank you to the publisher for granting my read request through Net Galley.

Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters by Emily Carpenter is a full length, stand-alone novel that had me in suspense from start til the last page.
Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters is a complex read, poetic.
The storyline jumps between past and present, it took me a minute to get into the story, but then o girl, I simply couldn't put the book down anymore.
I loved the excellent writing, the beautiful words and the exquisite characters.
I fell in insta-love with Evie, Dove and the others.
Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters is a touching story that's staying with me. I recommend Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters , 5 Stars.

I received an ARC copy of this book for an honest review. Once again Emily Carpenter hasn't disappointed. In this book she brings you back together with Dove Jarrod to learn her amazing story. We get to meet her granddaughter Eve and asking the way Eve learns things about the grandmother she never truly knew. Doves story is one of love lose and heartbreak. From her beginning in the asylum where she witnessed her mother's death until her time in California. Emily catches your attention from page one until the end with the story that she weaves. Well Eve finally get to know the woman that her grandmother was before she became the famous preacher that she was. She'll finally get to see who she truly was.

Totally fell in love with the places in this book, the characters in this book. A bit magical, a-lot fascinating, couldn't put it down. It's one of those books you force yourself to put down so you can draw out the time you spend with the characters.
Loved it.

Beautiful story across generations of families. Although connected to the author's earlier novel, it is a peripheral connection and is fine stand alone. The characters are powerful women and I felt immersed in their world. Highly recommend the interwoven stories.

When deciding what to tackle next in my TBR stack, I was torn over several options, but after reading the first few initial pages of this read, I was hooked. It was an immediately an interesting story and that proved to be true throughout the entire novel.
I loved the Southern Gothic atmosphere of the story, the mysteries and motivations of the characters, as well at the female relationships present in this novel. I do wish certain details had been more fully explained. Sometimes characters seemed to go from Point A to Point B and I was not really sure how they got there. I had questions like, "How is this rich family ok with a maid essentially squatting in their home?!"I mean, I am not following... There were times I had to suspend belief just a little bit.
But these are minor quibbles because overall it is a compelling read from beginning to end. The feel of the novel reminded me a bit of Simone St. James's works without the ghosts. Actually, I wish this book had a ghost or two (sorry, not sorry), but it was a fun read and there was a touch of the supernatural. The mystery was a fascinating one and, in this day and age, I needed the diversion. So thank you, Emily Carpenter!

As a fan of gothic settings and intriguing mysteries, I was immediately drawn into this book from the first page.
It is very interesting to read the perspectives of two different characters, Dove and Eve, and makes the mystery even more arresting.
The story will suck you in right from the start. The characters are well drawn out and the settings are described in great detail. If you enjoyed the previous book by Emily Carpenter, “Burying the Honeysuckle Girls” you will most definitely enjoy this one!
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book so that I could review it.

This one is definitely worth reading. I liked how the story went back and forth between Dove and Eve so you get glimpses into both of their lives. The settings were described in great detail so you felt like you were there. I did figure out the one mystery right away but it didn't detract from the journey of getting there at the end. Great read!
Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.