Monday, April 18, 2022

The Cave Dwellers

I purchased this book 100% based on the fact that the cover design incorporates red toile. Even though the cover is beautiful with its red, white, and navy cover work the storyline also sounded interesting. In full transparency, The Cave Dwellers is not my favorite book I’ve read this year… it’s not even in the top ten. I honestly think some of it might have been me, but I could just never get invested in the storyline; I think partly because I’m honestly tired of the news and politics and this book naturally has those two components interwoven into the storyline since it takes place in Washington, D.C. That said, someone else might love The Cave Dwellers, but out of the books I have read so far for 2022, it is not one of my favorites, on a personal level.

The Cave Dwellers is set in Washington D.C. – the heartbeat city of American politics. This book focuses on D.C. one percent, the lifestyle, scandals, abuse of power, history of families, and the strings that are attached to certain lifestyles.

 

This story starts out with a murder {that is somewhat of a mystery to a couple of the characters} and follows the families that were friends/acquaintances o the daughter that fell victim to the murders. Each friend is part of an elite family that is in some way corrupt, dysfunctional, or some other issue. 

 

Although Christina McDowell can clearly write, I feel like there were a lot of unnecessary details in this book, like side stories that really went now where, a murder scene that was slightly too detailed, children who clearly had issues, abusive husbands, social climbers, and so on, at the end of the day I think this book had too many dysfunctional elements for to enjoy the storyline. Granted, D.C. is a place where these elements are laced into everyday culture, as well, as other place, but I feel like there are enough positives McDowell could have found to make for a more balanced story. On a positive note, I will say that she did a wonderful job of describing the physical landscape of D.C. and did a nice job of tying historical occurrences to add strength to overall book. However, like I said, this just wasn’t a book I enjoyed very much, but someone else might love The Cave Dwellers.

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