The Kept Book Reviews

AUTHOR
James Scott
SCORE
3.5
TOTAL RATINGS
189

The Kept by James Scott Book Summary

“Dark and mysterious. . . . A novel whose daring is found in its bleakness. . . . The plot unfolds with a weighty languor reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy. . . sparse, elegant. . . haunting.” — New York Times

Set in rural New York state at the turn of the twentieth century, superb new talent James Scott makes his literary debut with The Kept—a propulsive novel reminiscent of the works of Michael Ondaatje, Cormac McCarthy, and Bonnie Jo Campbell, in which a mother and her young son embark on a quest to avenge a terrible and violent tragedy that has shattered their secluded family.

In the winter of 1897, a trio of killers descends upon an isolated farm in upstate New York. Midwife Elspeth Howell returns home to the carnage: her husband, and four of her children, murdered. Before she can discover her remaining son Caleb, alive and hiding in the kitchen pantry, another shot rings out over the snow-covered valley. Twelve-year-old Caleb must tend to his mother until she recovers enough for them to take to the frozen wilderness in search of the men responsible.

A scorching portrait of a merciless world—of guilt and lost innocence, atonement and retribution, resilience and sacrifice, pregnant obsession and primal adolescence—The Kept introduces an old-beyond-his-years protagonist as indelible and heartbreaking as Mattie Ross of True Grit or Jimmy Blevins of All the Pretty Horses, as well as a shape-shifting mother as enigmatic and mysterious as a character drawn by Russell Banks or Marilynne Robinson. 

👋 Do you love The Kept books? Please share your friends!

share facebook whatsapp twitter pinterest telegram email
Book Name The Kept
Genre Literary Fiction
Published
Language English
E-Book Size 1002.58 KB

The Kept (James Scott) Book Reviews 2024

💸 Want to send money abroad for free?

We transfer money over €4 billion every month. We enable individual and business accounts to save 4 million Euros on bank transfer fees. Want to send free money abroad or transfer money abroad for free? Free international money transfer!

A terrible ending!. I really enjoyed the story leading up to the last "book". I feel like the ending was very rushed and I'm sure it was in part for my longing for a happy ending for the mother and son. I also was displeased with Charles' character and his part in the end as well.

Where's the plot?. Bored to death by page 362. Quit reading so I could find something with a plot.

Rn. I found the book VERY dark without much sense of redemption. The author seemed to strive to make situations and descriptions as grisly as possible. The only few light spots were Frank, the storekeeper,and the storekeeper's wife, all brief scenarios. Otherwise all seemed doom and gloom. Why would a "mother" encourage her 12 year old son to seek to try and kill crazed murderers? The outcome seems predictable and inevitable. What kind of person takes in stride discovering her family so brutally destroyed? Only an attempt to manipulate the story so the son would unknowingly shoot his mother, hence creating more gruesome fodder for this despairing tale of woe. I definitely would NOT recommend this book!

The Kept. One of the WORST books I’ve ever read (and I am an avid reader). A bunch of random characters that I couldn’t keep track of and nobody had a personality. I was unmoved by any character. There was no clear beginning and certainly no ending. Nothing made sense. I thought I’d never reach the end and, alas, there was no end. Ugh. Ten thumbs down.

The Worst. If ending a story were this easy, why wouldn’t EVERYONE write? This is possibly the lamest, most putrid short-cutting writers experience I have ever encountered. To spread idle pronouncements of praise throughout the “societal, conversational” endings was pathetic. Please, leave writing and go bake something. At least then, you end with SOMETHING!

Disappointing Ending. Could not believe the story ended the way it did. Perhaps it was predictable but I felt cheated.

Engaging Read. Strange, curious compilation of characters. Couldn't put this story down!

💰 A universe of opportunities: Payoneer

Did you know that you can earn 25 USD from our site just by registering? Get $25 for free by joining Payoneer!

🧠 Join the movement! Experience the world's No.1 brain supplement

Imagine you at your best. All the time. Picture yourself at your sharpest and most productive. Your most alert and focused. Your most lucid, creative and confident. At work. At play. In every area of your life. Add Mind Lab Pro® v4.0 to your daily routine and uncap your true potential. Buy Now!

👉 Are you looking for an Adsense alternative advertising platform?

Adsterra is the most preferred ad network for those looking for an alternative to AdSense. Adsterra is the ideal choice for new sites with low daily traffic. In order to advertise on the site in Adsterra, like other ad networks, a certain traffic limit, domain age, etc. is required. There are no strict rules. Sign up!

Please wait! The Kept book comments loading...

James Scott - The Kept Discussions & Comments

Have you read this book yet? What do you think about The Kept by James Scott book? Ask the bookpedia.co community a question about The Kept!

The Kept E-book (PDF, PUB, KINDLE) Download

The Kept ebook the-kept (1002.58 KB) download new links will be update!

The Kept Similar Books

Book Name Score Reviews Price
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine 4.5/5 7,176 $12.99
Before We Were Yours 4.5/5 8,072 $8.99
The Help 4.5/5 38,024 $14.99
Atlas Shrugged 4.5/5 2,287 $9.99
Little Fires Everywhere 4.5/5 9,235 $11.99

Enhance sleep, vision, cognition, flexibility, energy, long-range health and more. Performance Lab CORE Formulas support all aspects of human performance, across all walks of life. Boosts work performance and productivity with nootropics for focus, multitasking under stress, creative problem-solving and more.

Other Books from James Scott

Summary of The Kept by James Scott

The The Kept book written by James Scott was published on 07 January 2014, Tuesday in the Literary Fiction category. A total of 189 readers of the book gave the book 3.5 points out of 5.

Free Literary Fiction Books
Book Name Author Price
The Story Girl L.M. Montgomery Free
The Moon is Down John Steinbeck Free
Existential Terror and Breakfast M.P. Fitzgerald Free
The Narcissist David Antonelli Free
The Trembling of a Leaf William Somerset Maugham Free

Coinbase is the world's most trusted place to buy and sell cryptocurrency. Open an account today, and if you buy or sell $100 or more of crypto, you'll receive $10 worth of free Bitcoin!

Paid Literary Fiction Books
Book Name Author Price
My Year of Rest and Relaxation Ottessa Moshfegh $12.99
Malibu Rising Taylor Jenkins Reid $12.99
A Good House for Children Kate Collins $12.99
The Underground Railroad Colson Whitehead $11.99
The Beast You Are Paul Tremblay $12.99

Jasper is the generative AI platform for business that helps your team create content tailored for your brand 10X faster, wherever you work online.