“It takes strength to be open to life, to the possibility things will change for the better.”
Summary - Katherine ‘Kala’ Lanann was 15 years years old when she disappeared in November 2003, leaving her friends Joe, Aoife, Helen, Mush, and Aiden and the whole town of Kinlough in shock. The once tight-knit group of friends eventually go their own ways, their friendship fractured in the aftermath of Kala’s disappearance.
I was absolutely loving this first half, the slower, character-building half, the half that most people didn’t love. It had that literary mystery feel that I love so much…
But then things started to get confusing for no reason? This is a pretty basic plot so for pages to be turned only to make twists that made things more confusing was kind of messy. And then the INTENSE animal cruelty happened, a few times. It was completely pointless to go into THAT much detail, brought zero to the plot and made me want to chuck it out the window. I get wanting to add to the darkness but there are far better ways to do it and this was not it.
It had so much promise and the audiobook was handled very well - great cast, great Irish accents. Thank you @prh for the complimentary listening copy.
Have you read Kala? How do you feel about animal cruelty in books?
Toni Rocchetti is a copy editor helping authors strengthen their narratives, deepen character arcs, and find the story that is already in the draft. She reads 80+ books a year across literary fiction, memoir, and nonfiction — and writes about what she is learning along the way. Work with Toni →
