Imagine
the rage…
Imagine the rage from being the only child of foundlings, one raised across the
street from where I’ve spent my entire life, and the other raised in a
prominent family but refuses to tell me her maiden name. Yeah, try answering
security questions without that important detail.
Imagine the rage from learning everything you thought you knew was nothing but
secrets covered in lies, as an entire town enables my momma.
Imagine the rage after losing my daddy, only to have to take care of a fragile
southern lady who doesn’t know the definition of responsibility.
Imagine the rage from having the only person who meant anything taken from me.
My best friend. My math teacher. My soon-to-be stepdaddy only a few years older
than me, who picked my momma over me.
Imagine the rage of witnessing a wedding being planned that costs more than a
four-year higher education degree, a down payment on a house, and a new car,
with a wedding party that wouldn’t fit packed inside a school bus. All because
Momma hitched her wagon to Followill’s most prominent son, after I’ve worked to
support us both since Daddy died.
Imagine the rage of swallowing your pride, as a young woman of color forced to
be the Maid of Dishonor at a wedding hosted at a plantation, because it’s the
groom’s ancestral home that will look pretty in the pictures.
Imagine a momma who stole my man, then decided to get married less than a week
before graduation, smack-dab during finals, and hours before my eighteenth
birthday, with the entire wedding party filled with my furious classmates.
I’m Rayna Scott, and that rage burns so bright, Momma no longer casts me in her
shadow.
Book
1
Buy Links
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~ Also Available with
KindleUnlimited ~
Angela
– ☆☆☆☆☆
I forgot.
Have you ever had a favorite author whose writing you strayed from for a while,
either because they started writing in a new genre, or you started reading in a
new genre, or perhaps there was a lengthy break in their publishing schedule,
or something else happened that led you to take a break from reading their
books? And then you pick up their latest release and get so sucked into the
story that it’s almost like you’re getting to experience their writing for the
first time, and you find yourself falling in love with one of your favorite
authors all over again.
So yeah, that was me as I read Followill. Because I forgot just how good
Erica Chilson is at writing in the first person. Because I forgot just how good
she is at making me feel the main character’s emotions, especially their
frustration when those around them – the people they’re supposed to be able to
trust completely – are lying to them, both outright lies and lies of omission.
Because I forgot just how good she is at spinning a web of secrets, lies, and
betrayal that I can feel the metaphorical gut punch the main character
experiences when they discover they’re living in a house of cards, not of their
own making, and it’s falling down around them. Because I forgot just how good
she is at creating a small town and its small-minded, judgmental, gossiping
residents who will cut you with words, but will have your back and defend you
against outsiders because no one comes into their town and messes with their
people. Because I forgot just how good she is at creating families whose family
trees have too many branches, or too few branches, or branches that intersect
and twist around one another so much that you understand the need for blood
tests before marriage certificates are issued. Because I forgot that even when
I manage to sus out what’s happening before the main character does, there’s a
curve ball I didn’t see coming that will leave me just as devastated as they
are. And because I forgot just how damn good she is at writing a cliffhanger
that I both loathe and love in equal measure because I love that anticipation
of having to wait for the next book because I absolutely MUST KNOW what happens
next, all while loathing that I have to wait… hanging onto that cliff by my
fingertips and cursing her name the entire time.
My hat’s off to you, Erica Chilson, Mistress of Mindfuckery and Cliffhangers,
because once again, you have delivered it all. I cannot wait to crack open my
review copy of book two because simply waiting long enough to write my review
was as long as I could stand to wait. Because I remember now. I remember just
how good you are at ensnaring me with your writing and making me lose myself in
your worlds. And I’m ready to return to Followill to discover what you have in
store for Rayna because as bumpy as her ride in book one was, I suspect that
rollercoaster she’s on is just getting started and I’m not convinced it’s going
to remain on its tracks. And I have questions, soooooo many questions that need
answers because I also remember just how much you like to use foreshadowing,
and quite a few seeds have been planted along the way and I can’t wait to see
what else you have to sow in Followill.
Shelby
– ☆☆☆☆☆
Followill by Erica Chilson is Rayna Scott's story. A young woman in
Followill, Louisiana who has experienced some serious lessons in her 17 years
of life. Rayna has fought for everything, she's earned every bit of good, and
she has worked hard for every achievement.
Feeling every bit the outcast, as teenagers do, she has a small network around
her, including her momma and her math teacher, Charlie Followill.
But things are rarely what they seem, no matter your age, and the town of
Followill has many, MANY secrets that need to come to light!
This story sucked me in: I like many of the characters and want to get to know
them better (Damien, especially), there are naughty and taboo-ish themes, and
some strange family dynamics. I want, no, I NEED to know what is really going
on. These people have secrets layered in secrets, and I need to know how Rayna
is involved or more likely, what her momma was hiding and why.
I enjoyed this story, the characters, the mystery of Followill but man, the
cliffhanger is KILLER! No worries though, as I WILL be rabidly waiting for book
two.
Ruthie
– ☆☆☆☆☆
This is the first book in a trilogy – and you will want to get hold of book two
the second you arrive at the final page! Followill is the name of the town
where this book is set, and the name of the principal family of the town.
Everyone wants the power and prestige which comes with that name, and those who
don't are considered less.
Rayna Scott, at 17, has no intention of being seen as less, and in addition to
working so hard at school to ensure she gets the scholarship which will see her
finally leave to go to college, she has been in charge of the household since
her father died when she was 14. Her momma never really recovered her health
and is seemingly incapable of working – so it falls to Rayna.
Then her beloved maths teacher, and best friend – Charlie Followill – becomes
her mother's boyfriend, fiancé, and soon-to-be husband... this riles up Rayna
inside so much... yet she would never deny her mother anything. This dichotomy
is described with such power and vehemence it is impossible to stop reading. I
loved that Rayna is both old and wise beyond her years, but then also
wonderfully naive and young. It rang so true, and many of us will identify with
parts of her thoughts.
There is an amazing tension which exists from the very beginning, and
unsettles, and makes one curious, possibly a little confused, and definitely
expectant... just go read it and find out why!
Give me book two... NOW!
ERICA
CHILSON does not write in the 3rd person, wanting her readers to be her
characters. Therefore, writing a bio about herself, is uncomfortable in the
extreme.
Born, raised, and here to stay, the Wicked Writer is a stump-jumper, a
ridge-runner. Hailing from North Central Pennsylvania, directly on the New York
State border; she loves the changes in seasons, the humid air, all the
mountainous forest, and the gloomy atmosphere.
Introverted, but not socially awkward, Erica prides herself on thinking first
and filtering her speech. There are days she doesn’t speak at all. If it wasn’t
for the fact that she lives with her parents, giving her a sense of reality,
she would be a hermit, where the delivery man finds her months after
expiration.
Reading was an escape, a way to leave a not-so pleasant reality behind. Reading
lent Erica the courage she gathered from the characters between the pages to
long for a different life. Writing was an instrument of change, evolving Erica into
the woman she is today – a better, more mature, more at peace thinker.
Erica has a wicked mind, one she pours out into her creations. Her filter
doesn’t allow all of it to erupt, much to her relief. Sarcastic, with a very
dark, perverse sense of humor, Erica puts a bit of herself into every character
she writes.
Connect with
Erica Chilson
Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Website ~ Goodreads
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Group: M&M of Restraint
Hosted by
Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided
a free copy of Followill (Followill #1) by Erica Chilson to read and review.
