Really enjoyed this book. Great plot and engaging, believe characters. I was drawn right into the story. Would definitely recommend.

The Geische and Hilss families are of German decent, they live in Fredericksburg, Texas, they have intermarried and this has created tension between them. Carel Geische wants to develop some land and for a subdivision, he borrows too much money from the bank, uses other people's property as collateral, and his entire empire is about to crumble.

With so many charters, marriages, divorces, parents, children and step-children it was hard to keep track of what part they played in the story and I can understand why some people stopped reading the book. The Gillespie County Fair is held once a year, it’s the place to be if you live in the small farming community and I thought the narrative would be based around this. But it’s not the case at all and the title of the book is very misleading.

I received a copy of The Gillespie County Fair by Marc Hess from NetGalley and Greenleaf Book Group in exchange for an honest review. I felt sympathy and empathy for two characters, Mari Hilss and Willow Geische. Mari is Carel’s ex-wife and Willow is his daughter, and both are emotionally damaged by him. Two stars from me, what an odd story and maybe I just didn't get it?

The Gillespie County Fair was intriguing to read and one I would recommend.


Description:
The Gentrification of Rural Texas
​The Gillespie County Fair, the oldest fair in Texas, looms insistently over the shoulder of Marc Hess’s new novel. As rampant land development and tourist money begin to transform the old German farming community of Fredericksburg, two intermarried pioneer families lock in a life-and-death struggle over the sale of their homestead. Their vicious feud—in an otherwise harmonious and bucolic community—leads to the demise of two pioneer families and culminates in the triumph of one hard-headed, young girl.
This book delves into the clash of new wealth and ingrained poverty as rural Texas grapples with a changing world. In a short period of time, the town of Fredericksburg has morphed from a rock-rimmed farming community into the chic tourist destination that it is today. While the town itself has blossomed, this is the story about a family that destroys itself.

Well written involving.A small town three families characters come alive. The book drew me in kept me turning the pages.I will be recommending the book,#netgalley#greenleafbookgrouo

A story line so real you'll recognize the towns and businesses where the characters spend their time. Characters so real you'll wonder if Marc Hess is writing about your ancestors. Together they make a book so good you'll read it more than once.

This book was all over the place. I wasn't interested in the characters, nor cared what happened with them. It's a hard story to follow.
I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley.
All opinions are my own.

This book was based in Gillespie County, Texas where there is a rivalry brewing between two different families. They are both trying to retain, or attain the family homestead. This book was hard for me to follow since there were so many different characters and things that they were involved in that I had to keep straight. In the middle of all of this, you had Callie's daughter Willow who is such a painful and tragic character that is having growing pains of her own. I struggled with understanding what the fight was about and how Callie had managed to lose everything. Callie's wives had their own issues and he had put them into a rough position when both of their properties were tied into the historical land that he lost. As much as I would have loved to, I could just not get into this book how I wanted to be. I finished it though and did love the writing style. It just all came across as thrown all over the place.

The Gillespie County Fair

A cast of original characters you can’t help but fall for. I did feel like the storyline was a little all over the place and hard to follow. But in saying that, I was definitely eager to see what the outcome was gonna be for these characters.

There were definitely parts of this book that were outstanding! I finished this one in less then 24 hours. I’d try another book from this author.

This book was a confusing mess that I had to really push myself to finish. There was just too much going on for it to be a relaxing read, as I had to keep checking back to see who characters were because there were just so many. I think if the author had focused on one family that this would have been a much better book.

I wanted to like this book, but all the different families were hard to keep straight and it made it somewhat confusing.

I would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy free of charge. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

I received this book from Net Galley I. Exchange for an honest review.

As a central Texas resident. I enjoy my weekend trips to Fredericksburg to drink wine and shop. The mentions of local establishment and restaurants were enjoyable. Having had the opportunity to attend the Gillespie County Fair one hot August it was easy to see the way families treated this as a family excursion. Mentions of historic families and ties to old German beliefs was very easy to visualize. In a small town everyone truly is either related to everyone else, or they know everyone’s business. Old German beliefs clash with tourist visits and input

I was given review copies of The Gillespie County Fair from BookishFirst and NetGalley. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

The Gillespie County Fair is the story of a dysfunctional family in small town rural Texas. Carel Geische has a vision to transform his town into a tourist spot, with himself as the recipient of the riches that are sure to come. His wheeling and dealing already cost him one family, but when Carel's prosperous vision comes to a grinding halt, will he lose the other as well? Despite being an opportunist and a shyster, does Carel have any redeeming qualities?

For a relatively short book, The Gillespie County Fair is very dense. The premise and the title point to something other than was on the pages of this book. Carel is a hard guy to like, as his constant deal making and legal wrangling make him appear more like a villain. The title does not make much sense in the larger context of the novel, as the fair itself is barely a blip on its radar. Willow's issues seem out of place, like they were added to the novel as an afterthought. For these reasons, I would be hesitant to recommend The Gillespie County Fair to other readers.

Thank you to Greenleaf Books and NetGalley for an advance read of this book, The Gillespie County Fair. This is the story of pioneers of Texas, trying to save their homes, their land, from development. This is a timely problem that I think it relevant. This was a very good book, about family, about history and about what's worth saving and at what cost.

The Gillespie County Fair reminded me of a Peyton Place sort of town. Set in Fredericksburg, Texas, this novel follows three different families and how their lives are all connected. A quick read that held my interest.
Thank you Netgalley for an advanced copy of The Gillespie County Fair. This is my honest review.

Thank you Bookishfirst and Netgalley for providing an advanced copy of The Gillespie County Fair by Marc Hess in return for my honest review.

It was difficult to connect with the characters in Gillespie County Fair. They are all flawed, there are too many of them, and their stories are depressing. Add to that the German terminology scattered throughout the book, and the mere 197 pages was an effort to finish. That being said, I loved the cover of the book and the small Texas town of Fredericksburg. I also liked that my impression of the characters kept changing. For example, Carel initially seemed like a good man running out in the middle of the night to help with a devastating fire in the community, but shortly thereafter the reader learned that Carel’s actual intention was to take advantage of his neighbor’s plight to purchase his land, cheaply, in order to build office suites in the advantageous location. He also was willing to bend the law to get what he wanted. I liked that things were not as they first appeared, and this theme continued throughout the novel. Change is coming to this German, farming community, but not all change is good.

THE GILLESPIE COUNTY FAIR by Mark Hess
This book never quite caught me in its web. I didn’t like the characters. They all seemed shallow and grubby. The plot wandered about until the “secret sin” was revealed and then the secret didn’t seem to matter much at all.
Carel, the main character, just wandered about the story making or revealing mistake after mistake, not learning anything from his errors. His wife (current) and daughter do manage to have redeeming qualities of a sort. The writing is okay, but there are too many German words that are not defined or explained. I read German, so I knew what was written, someone unfamiliar with the language would be frustrated .
I can’t really recommend this book. Maybe someone else will read it and love it, I don’t.
2 of 5 stars

Growing up a 4Her and having the county fair be a highlight of my summer, I was initially intrigued by this book. It was a complete let down. The references to the fair were few and far between and had very little to do with the story. The story is suppose to be about the struggle of a small farming town that is slowly being taken over by tourists, except there really wasn’t much about that either. It was more of a depressing family drama with too many characters and not a one that I would like to meet.
Its one saving grace was that it was short!

Marc Hess crafted a very complicated read by building many character stories from the very beginning. All the characters have many flaws and all have much room to grow.
The story takes place in a small Texan city during The Gillespie County Fair. Funny enough, the fair itself takes up a couple pages at most and plays a minuscule part of the story.
Told in different POV’s, this novel is full of characters that seem to have a lot of baggage. A property catches fire during the night and we then learn that the property owner themselves caused the fire to commit insurance fraud. Carol, one of the main characters, tries to swoop in and buy the property as a last ditch effort to save his own failing business. Although he is a well-known businessman in town, the readers discover that he is going bankrupt and slowly witness his demise. Another main character is Carol’s estranged daughter Willow, who is dealing with her own problems in the wake of her absent father and barely there mother. One more character we hear from is Max, who left town 20 years ago to start fresh. After some failed ventures in his personal and professional life, he returns to town to focus on his new business. Max has very little importance to the story up until the last portion of the novel where many semi-absurd plot twists take place.
From the beginning, this novel did not hook me. I continued reading this on the note that I had a mere drop of curiosity as to what could possibly happen as well as knowing that this was a short read. I did not enjoy the racial slurs the main character used towards Mexicans as these could easily have been left out. I did not find even one character I could relate with nor were any of them redeemable. The story developed at a very slow pace and then plot twists were thrown in the mix at the end. The plot twists were barely explained, and even then had very little impact on the characters. I would give this read two stars. I don’t think it was a novel for me. I think a Texas native may have better luck with the novel as they may find more to connect with.

This book was just not for me; DNF at around 17%. It liked where it was going and I liked the writing style up until the daughter cutting her thigh. It made me cringe the entire time, I was so uncomfortable. I tried to read farther, but all the real estate business talk lost me.

It's a short read and I'm sure there are others out there who will enjoy it, but not this gal.

This was a very interesting and intense read! I really enjoyed it, way more than I thought I would!!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own