Review: The Uninvited by Cat Winters

Title: The Uninvited

Author: Cat Winters

Published by: William Morrow/HarperCollins

Released: 2015

Source: Library

Summary: 1918 is a year of death. WWI is raging, leaving widows and grieving parents behind. The flu epidemic is also going strong, taking more and more people away. Ivy Rowan wakes up from a harrowing illness to discover her world is forever changed. Her father and brother have killed a man, and Ivy realizes she can no longer stay in her home. 

In all her 25 years, she has never been free, but now she can be. Jazz beckons. A new love appears. Ivy has found purpose in a time where the world seems to be falling apart.

My Thoughts: Hmmmm... such a pickle I find myself in. I most definitely enjoyed this, but I did have some problems with it too.

I loved the historical setting vibe, how it was set in a time of such chaos. I also loved being enlightened on a piece of history that I wasn't aware of. Learning about the Anti-German movement that swept the country, and the hate experienced by German Immigrants was completely eye-opening. Maybe it hit me harder because I have a lot of German heritage. It's also a swept-under-the-rug part of history. We remember the hatred expressed towards Jews, Irish, Japanese, Native Americans, and African Americans, but forget the struggle of other people. For how welcoming America is with its melting pot status (but you have to come over the right way, but I'm not going to get into that political swampland), it can also be full of hate. I feel like we don't hear about the Anti-German movement in history because Germans are white, and the white man is always the last to get any kind of sympathy. They are constantly portrayed as the "privileged" villains, which I don't think is right.

I also really enjoyed the big twist of the story. As I got nearer to the reveal, I did begin to suspect some things. I'd read a short story by Cat Winters not too long before this, and that had the same kind of twist. But, the twist made you view everything that happened before through different eyes.

The things that threw me off were the frenzied pace of the story and Ivy. I had a lot of trouble wrapping my head around some of the things Ivy decided to do. As a woman of her time, some of them didn't make sense. I also felt like she had no real plan for what she was going to do next, and just jumped from one thing to another. She could also be a little too preachy for my liking.
All in all, I liked this. I really enjoyed the historical setting and learning something new. The twist was fun and shocking. I enjoyed the way Cat Winters can tell a story, and definitely will be checking out more by her.

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 3.5/5

Frenzied and Shocking