Review of Deceptive Calm
Posted: 02 Jul 2025, 12:34
[Following is a volunteer review of "Deceptive Calm" by Patricia Skipper.]
This book was really entertaining on all sorts of levels. The historic tension of the experience of segregation, lower and upper class of all races, and perspective alone is a reason to read this novel. The level of emotion each character has, even if brief is well captured, and every voice and aspect is explored very well.
Sister Roe became a instant hit to me, and the book had me legit putting down after only a few sentences to google if the facts stated by the character were in fact true. I have never known someone who was so enraptured by their pride in their towns History, and it gave her character a power to push you wanting more. A lot of characters flowed that way, and I appreciated the jousts of verbal interactions, good, bad, and random.
If you aren't hooked into finishing chapter 1 by page 3, then movies with all that fake AI stuff is your only savior, as the details alone capture a incredible moment of experience for the reader.
If there was any negative aspect to put on this novel was in the romance/sex scenes. I was surprised by the intriguing inserts of sexual moments, but had several very 50 shades/Anime girl/virgin fantasy flow to it. It wasn't believable of the reaction to some of the experiences had by Vanessa, and it kind of pulled me from the story in a distracting way. As someone in my 30s, I still remember some of my innocent days, and half of the reactions just seem written to please a male perspective. Then again, I came from a educated background where my school, my parents, and other sources made me aware of my budding teenage curiosity, so its hard to imagine that a character like Vanessa would be so steam rolled
Otherwise fantastic writing
******
Deceptive Calm
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
This book was really entertaining on all sorts of levels. The historic tension of the experience of segregation, lower and upper class of all races, and perspective alone is a reason to read this novel. The level of emotion each character has, even if brief is well captured, and every voice and aspect is explored very well.
Sister Roe became a instant hit to me, and the book had me legit putting down after only a few sentences to google if the facts stated by the character were in fact true. I have never known someone who was so enraptured by their pride in their towns History, and it gave her character a power to push you wanting more. A lot of characters flowed that way, and I appreciated the jousts of verbal interactions, good, bad, and random.
If you aren't hooked into finishing chapter 1 by page 3, then movies with all that fake AI stuff is your only savior, as the details alone capture a incredible moment of experience for the reader.
If there was any negative aspect to put on this novel was in the romance/sex scenes. I was surprised by the intriguing inserts of sexual moments, but had several very 50 shades/Anime girl/virgin fantasy flow to it. It wasn't believable of the reaction to some of the experiences had by Vanessa, and it kind of pulled me from the story in a distracting way. As someone in my 30s, I still remember some of my innocent days, and half of the reactions just seem written to please a male perspective. Then again, I came from a educated background where my school, my parents, and other sources made me aware of my budding teenage curiosity, so its hard to imagine that a character like Vanessa would be so steam rolled
Otherwise fantastic writing
******
Deceptive Calm
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon