Megan Bannen

The Undermining of Twyla and Frank

A massively disappointing story with a notable aversion to integrating a plot

 was one of my most anticipated releases of 2024. 

Sadly, this book was extremely bland and boring – especially compared to its predecessor.

 was stripped away from this book leaving only lackluster and unsatisfactory drudgery.

This is not a direct sequel. It is set in the same world and town but focuses on different characters. There were glimpses of Mercy and Hart, and honestly, they were the only part of this book I truly enjoyed.

To start with, I liked that it had middle-aged characters. Twyla, a fifty-three-year-old widowed empty-nester, is dealing with constantly being overlooked and underestimated and the invisibility of being a middle-aged mother. But Twyla was really demeaning towards herself and her age. She let herself get railroaded a lot particularly by her shitty son who constantly used her for free babysitting. It also seemed like her personality had been hammered down by the many disappointments of her life. And since she was the only POV, it dragged down the story. The small amount of self-discovery later did not balance out the disparaging wallowing. And since the story is only from Twyla’s POV, the insecurities were suffocating.

I was not invested in the romance at all. In fact, I almost hated it. It certainly did not help to have the main character lusting after and dating someone else. Not to go into spoilers, but I do not enjoy love triangles. But when you add in emotional cheating and using people, it’s a hard no from me.

 was that the worldbuilding was lacking. Sadly, this sequel did not fill in any blanks. It actually had even less worldbuilding. I can’t imagine much would make sense if someone read this book without reading the first one. The story was mostly just about little day to day minutiae of life - not riveting stuff and nothing that fleshed out the world.

Even the dragons didn't liven up the story. This is now the third most disappointing book with dragons (after 

). But really, there is no excuse for making dragons this boring and insipid. And sparkly. 

They’re supposed to be dragons. Not Beanie Babies.

And on a random note, I continue to despair of the over-popularity of the crutch phrase “sucked his teeth.” Please stops using that, authors. It has no surpassed “she let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding” as top phrase that makes me shutter.

I became increasingly suspicious and bored when I reached the halfway point with no real plot deigning to make an appearance. Towards the end of the story, Bannen seemed to remember that the narrative had completely forgotten to include a plot and hasty threw in a slashdash effort. But it was too little, too late and honestly, ridiculous. It was like a few drops of oil thrown in a glass of water, clinging to the surface of the story but chemically unable to actually integrate with it.

, the massive disappointment of this sequel has me seriously doubting whether I will bother reading the third book in the series.

Characters and Character Development: 1 Star

Colleen

A massively disappointing story with a notable aversion to integrating a plot


I adored how engaging and quirky The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy was. So The Undermining of Twyla and Frank was one of my most anticipated releases of 2024. Sadly, this book was extremely bland and boring – especially compared to its predecessor. Everything I loved about The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy was stripped away from this book leaving only lackluster and unsatisfactory drudgery.

This is not a direct sequel. It is set in the same world and town but focuses on different characters. There were glimpses of Mercy and Hart, and honestly, they were the only part of this book I truly enjoyed.

To start with, I liked that it had middle-aged characters. Twyla, a fifty-three-year-old widowed empty-nester, is dealing with constantly being overlooked and underestimated and the invisibility of being a middle-aged mother. But Twyla was really demeaning towards herself and her age. She let herself get railroaded a lot particularly by her shitty son who constantly used her for free babysitting. It also seemed like her personality had been hammered down by the many disappointments of her life. And since she was the only POV, it dragged down the story. The small amount of self-discovery later did not balance out the disparaging wallowing. And since the story is only from Twyla’s POV, the insecurities were suffocating.



“Echoes of her late husband drifted around her, this pernicious and lingering Old Gods notion that a uterus somehow endowed one with inherent childcare abilities.”


I was not invested in the romance at all. In fact, I almost hated it. It certainly did not help to have the main character lusting after and dating someone else. Not to go into spoilers, but I do not enjoy love triangles. But when you add in emotional cheating and using people, it’s a hard no from me.

One of the only quibbles I had about The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy was that the worldbuilding was lacking. Sadly, this sequel did not fill in any blanks. It actually had even less worldbuilding. I can’t imagine much would make sense if someone read this book without reading the first one. The story was mostly just about little day to day minutiae of life - not riveting stuff and nothing that fleshed out the world.

Even the dragons didn't liven up the story. This is now the third most disappointing book with dragons (after A Natural History of Dragons and the Everest of disappointments: The Priory of the Orange Tree). But really, there is no excuse for making dragons this boring and insipid. And sparkly. They’re supposed to be dragons. Not Beanie Babies.

And on a random note, I continue to despair of the over-popularity of the crutch phrase “sucked his teeth.” Please stops using that, authors. It has no surpassed “she let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding” as top phrase that makes me shutter.

I became increasingly suspicious and bored when I reached the halfway point with no real plot deigning to make an appearance. Towards the end of the story, Bannen seemed to remember that the narrative had completely forgotten to include a plot and hasty threw in a slashdash effort. But it was too little, too late and honestly, ridiculous. It was like a few drops of oil thrown in a glass of water, clinging to the surface of the story but chemically unable to actually integrate with it.

As much as I loved The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy, the massive disappointment of this sequel has me seriously doubting whether I will bother reading the third book in the series.


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 4 Stars
Writing Style: 3 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 1 Star
Plot Structure and Development: 1 Star
Level of Captivation: 2 Stars
Originality: 2 Stars

The Undermining of Twyla and Frank

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