What do you think?
Rate this book
The Mart
337 pages, Paperback
Published December 7, 2023
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 21, 2025
This book has two sections that I felt very different about. The first section deals with the romance between Bitsy and Lewis, who work at The Mart (very much like a K-Mart in the old days). This is 226 pages of this 315-page book. I realize that the author wanted us to understand how the relationship built and the trust between them but I found it to be like a bad teen novel with so much drivel just to come to the end with a who-did-what question.
The last part of the book reminded me a lot of Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. It was short stories about other characters who worked at the Mart and crossed paths with Bitsy and Lewis. These stories were cohesive, interesting, and meaningful. This saved the book for me.
I advise the writer to shorten the romance story and add additional short stories and it will be much better received, at least by this reader.
The last part of the book reminded me a lot of Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. It was short stories about other characters who worked at the Mart and crossed paths with Bitsy and Lewis. These stories were cohesive, interesting, and meaningful. This saved the book for me.
I advise the writer to shorten the romance story and add additional short stories and it will be much better received, at least by this reader.
Displaying 1 of 1 review