Meredith is a huge fan of the author Leila Meacham, and she encouraged me to try one of her books. So, I picked up a 600+ page book with yellow flowers peppering the cover and gave it a shot. Her novel Titans fixates on the oil and ranching tycoons Texas in the early 1900s. It’s filled with the American ideals we know and love – freedom, family, faith. And, of course, there’s love.
We primarily trace the stories of Nathan Holloway, a farmer’s son who discovers his family life isn’t quite what it seems, and Samantha Gordon, a wealthy rancher’s daughter who soon finds herself connected to Nathan in a mysterious way.
I have to be honest; I had pretty mixed feelings about this book. There were parts I liked and parts that bothered me. So, here’s my pros and cons breakdown:
What I Didn’t Like
Now, according to Meredith, it’s quite typical of a Meacham novel to have a huge cast of characters, and Titans definitely follows that trend. A huge cast. Not only do we dive into Nathan’s and Samanth’s lives, we also learn about the rest of the Holloway and Gordon clans, the workers on the Gordons’ ranch, the oil tycoon Travis Waverling and his family, rancher Sloan Singleton and his family, and a number of others. I went into the book expecting it to be from Samantha and Nathan’s perspectives, but the book really went all over the place covering these different players. While Meacham develops her characters well, I definitely had a hard time keeping track of who everyone was and who was important and who wasn’t. It just wasn’t always clear to me who the focus of the book was on.
Another thing that bothered me in the story was the pacing. It could feel pretty uneven at times. We’d spend a lot of time on one thing and then gloss over something else that seemed kind of important. It felt, at times, inconsistent.
The last thing that I didn’t necessarily like was how long it took for the characters to “solve the mystery,” if you will. The reader knows exactly what’s happening from pretty early on and spends the duration of the novel watching the characters sort it out and put things together. I have no issue with that, but I felt like Meacham picked a very convoluted route to ultimately expose “what really happened.” Even though I figured it out, I was waiting for those details to come clear, to explain everything, but the reveal was way messier than I think it needed to be. I can’t really explain that any better without giving spoilers.
What I Liked
For a 600+ page book, it didn’t read like one. Yes, there was a lot of set-up and development, but the novel itself moved quickly and smoothly. I didn’t feel like I was trudging through that many pages, and I actually finished it in less than a week. Meacham’s characters were well-developed, and I felt like we got to know how they all ticked.
She is also an expert at setting. She really makes 18th century Texas leap off the page. The farms, the sprawling ranches, the work, the growing cities, the weather… Everything came together to paint an amazing picture of what life was like in that time. I felt like the landscape was a character all on its own, and I think that’s a hallmark of good writing.
And, while I think the mystery reveal could have been a little neater, I really did like the intrigue throughout the book. It fills every part of the plot and weaves into every character’s life. Additionally, because of the length of the book, we see a lot of development in each character that you don’t always get to witness in shorter books. Lots of set up, but also lots of growth. All in all, it was an interesting story of coming together and healing relationships.
So, I liked the book but didn’t love it. I enjoyed reading it and read through it quickly. In many ways, it was a strong, historical novel. However, in a few minor ways, it had some flaws that weakened it a little bit. Take my opinion with a grain of salt, and check it out for yourself!
Copyright Leila Meacham and Grand Central Publishing. Image from Amazon.com.
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