Bitter Root by Laydin Michaels

Bitter Root
by Laydin Michaels
Pages: 240
Date: August 16 2016
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Series: None

Review
Rating: 2.0 out of 5.0
Read: June 29 2016 to July 3 2016

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

Location New Iberia Louisiana.

Characters
Two point of views. Adi Bergeron and Griffith McNautly.

Merley Adison ‘Dinks’ ‘Adi’ Bergeron Nerbass - chef of a small restaurant in Louisiana named ‘Boiling Pot’. Ran away from home when she was 14. Is now 22.

Griffith McNaulty - is a reporter. Her reputation is currently smeared due to something that happened with an interview subject (something to do with a 'Tabitha Moore' who was a 'criminal' and had 'deliberatly subverted the truth' and her article had 'cost innocent people their life savings'. She is looking for more than just a puff piece.

Bertie Durall - is a 74 year old woman who found Adi curled up next to a dumpster outside the Boiling Pot. Calls Adi Dinks. Took Adi in as her own, taught her how to cook.

T’Claude Michaud - owner of the restaurant Adi works in.

J.B. Nerbass - the big evil step-father. Mixed up with criminals. Is a killer.

Plotline
At the age of 14, Adi ran away from home. Her mother was a bitch – the kind to slap her around; the father was a step-father – and connected to criminal elements. In the prologue, 12 year old Merley Adison Nerbass accidentally walks in on her step-father, J.B. Nerbass, doing something bad. J.B. gathers his step-daughter to him, puts a gun in her hand, and helps her pull the trigger. Some guy named Ransom is now dead (I say some guy, he is known to Adi as the father of two kids she knows and sees in school). J.B. praises Adi for her killing ability.

From that moment on, J.B. included Adi in his criminal activities. Without her desire to be included. Her life is hellish. This proceeds for two years when finally Adi knows she has to just leave or she is going to end up dead – either by J.B. or from her soul withering away.

Chapter one opens 8 years later. Adi goes by a different name (though one that’s basically her old one minus Nerbass and reintroduction of her real father’s last name - Bergeron, perfect disguise, eh? – it’s true that Bertie calls her Dink, but she’s the only one to do that), and is now the chef/waitress in a restaurant. She was saved by the head person at that restaurant, one Bertie. Bertie took Adi in as her own.

Things heat up when two people from a magazine pop in (one named Dawn Chapman). They didn’t plan to be there exactly, but got lost. They sample most of the food on the menu. Decide to feature Adi for their chef of Louisiana (there’s this thing they are doing, no matter). Adi wants nothing to do with it. T’Claude, the owner of the place, loves the idea. Adi is basically forced to go along.

So – the magazine reporter shows up, one Griffith McNaulty.

Potential Issues
1) Not sure if it is an issue or not – the restaurant that Adi was found curled up outside of was called Boiling Point - supposedly the same restaurant she works in now. But the current restaurant is called Boiling Pot. Not sure if there was a name change or if there was a mistake and it was always Boiling Pot.

2) Okay, I get it already. Either the author, or the character - Griff, really dislikes Los Angeles (And Griff is from Los Angeles). Based on the 8 billion times things are compared with Los Angeles, and Los Angeles is found to be the lessor of whatever is being compared.

Some Thoughts
I dragged my feet on this one. I really did not wish to be the first to say anything about this book here. So I slowed myself down. Which meant both that reading this book took longer than it normally would have and I absorbed more of the words as they flashed past. No, that's not right. I normally absorb the words; I had more time with them I guess you could say.

I could probably go either way, but I basically liked Adi. Everyone else gave off creepy icky vibes.

It's a book about someone who ran away from a very bad situation (step-father was/is a very bad man in the killer/criminal way). Got found sleeping next to a dumpster. Got taken in by the woman who found her who gave her a job and a place to live. And now it's roughly 10 years later and a reporter is interviewing the chef at a dumpy-looking restaurant who serves outstanding food. That cook being Adi.

I understand that the author wanted to set up a situation wherein the reporter would just need to dig deep into Adi's background. But . . . the way things came about is annoying. Like - she got burnt by a prior story she did and now her name is mud. So, she's doing this freelance story about a chef. And she doesn't want to be 'burnt' again so she . . . . needs to know the truth about every second of Adi's life. Not finding out that the woman - the chef, had come from a bad background and that her story might have consequences is a real issue. And, quite frankly, one that does not really have a real solution. Digging deep into her past isn't a solution. The only real solution is to not publish any story (or not use Adi's name, but the article is about Adi; or giving Adi some code name - which would be odd, considering, again, the article is about Adi).

Whether or not the big baddie, step-pops, would read a magazine about cooking, there is the unfortunate part wherein Adi did change her name. By dropping her first and last name. And retaking her biological father's last name. And putting her middle name in front of it. As in . . . evil step-pops, seeing someone they vaguely recognize in a photo in a magazine would see a name they do recognize next to it.

So, the reporter really really needs to know all about Adi's past. Because otherwise her name is mud. But . . . um . . starting a relationship with your interview subject who is ten years younger than you is okay? I'd think that would be even more of a hindrance to repairing your reputation than failing to know Adi's backstory. (That and the out and out lying she does on the story - during the interviews, etc. is on a disturbing level).

I mentioned that all but Adi is creepy/icky. Then only mentioned how the reporter is icky/creepy. Indirectly. Well, Bertie, the woman who found Adi, is icky/creepy in a overly . . . . hmm . . . possessive way. And, if she didn't have the personality she has, she'd be an evil-step-mother type. She has Adi working basically 11 hours a day; she's super pushy and constantly bringing up issues Adi does not wish to discuss; and she's super-naive for a 74 year old (what bad could happen to have your story come out; so what if your super-evil-let's-kill-everyone-who-irratates-us step-father learn of where you currently are - nothing bad can happen from that). Plus - she never plans to retire, despite the fact that Adi has been waiting for Bertie to retire before moving off to some other city so that she can 'live'. Be openly lesbian. She can't in her current small town (she believes). The excuse pushy Bertie gives for getting Adi's story out there is because Adi needs to burst out of her shell . . . except that she's hindering her development by trapping her in the situation she currently is in. Just because she died doesn't take away the icky/creepy feeling

There are way too many story-lines here. It is a big ball of mess. If the 'two people meeting, realizing an attraction' had been followed, it might be an interesting book; or the mystery of whatever evil step-father had been followed alone, without the other baggage, or . . . .. But all together makes a mess of a book. Wordy. This would have been a hell of a lot better if this had just been a reporter doing a story that lead to an even bigger story. But as is, it's super annoying.

Long and short - there are several 'books' here, but it does not really work as one whole complete book. It's strange in it's way, but if each little plot line had been teased out and pushed into a separate book - they might have worked on their own, but all squashed together created an overwhelming wordy book.

July 3 2016