McKenzie > Recent Status Updates

I think the issue I'm having with this novel is that most of the time I feel as if things are explained to me. More telling than showing.
I would like more opportunities to deduce and determine how the characters are feeling.

Some of the characters feel flat -- specifically Pru. Hopefully she'll show some development in this second half of the novel; up to this point she's been predictably pompous and supercilious.

Midway review:
I think there's overuse of dialogue and I'd prefer more showing, not telling; I like the themes being explored and the mother-daughter dynamic unfolding. The presentation of books and reading as routes to joy and strong relationships is especially appealing.
I'd like this more if their was more room for interpretation and less didactic dialogue.

Frequented words/phrases:
"gaped"/"gaping"
"sputtered"
"neither here nor there"
"snorted"
"raised a brow"

Some turn-offs:
So far, much of the dialogue seems engineered to be quotable and every few pages/scenes a lesson/moral is taught -- without subtlety.
2.5 stars as of now.

theme-forward dialogue;
didactic narration;
heavy-handed moralizing prose;
and that doesn't include my issue with the allusion to the antichrist.