4 stars Thanks to NetGalley for the download and a Marketing Assistant at G.P. Putnam’s Sons Penguin Random House for the ability to read and review this ARC. Published 9/8/2020.

Swab your cheek. Read your DNA. Change your life! What could be easier?

That is the premise of the story. Small town Louisiana installs a photo booth type DNAMIX fortune teller in their local grocery store. For $2 change your life - get the readout and learn just what your potential really is. It doesn't take long for everyone in town, teens, housewives and professional people to try their luck. Among them are a married couple Douglas Hubbard and his wife, Cherilyn - who up to that time thought they were very happy. Then the changes begin...

Wow! Very enjoyable book ! Something new -not the same old, same old. A bit science fiction but I would say more magical realism. Once you are in this book the pages turn like softened butter - very smoothly you move from one thing to the next. Marriage, evolution, community, separation, division, redemption and wonder.

Tired of the same old thing? Open this book - take a journey like non other. Wow! Very enjoyable book !

The Big Door Prize was a surprising read for me. I think I had low expectations but really enjoyed it a lot. Set in a Louisiana town that receives a DNAMIX machine that with a quick swab of your cheek will tell you your potential and/or station

You can imagine what happens to this town. People reevaluate their jobs, their marriages and families. For most townspeople I felt there was just silliness, like your job should be a magician. For the people this story centers around this poses real big questions. Douglas Hubbard is a beloved teacher who is asked to become principal, his wife who thinks she is meant to be royal, and Jacob (Hubbard’s student) who recently lost his twin brother.

This is more of a story of relationships and when presented with an opportunity to change your life, would you jump on the chance to do it and how does it affect the people you love and care about. I think this is potentially a great book club pick. I think the questions you will have, will lead to amazing discussion. This is a unique story, that I will think about often.

Thank you NetGalley and G.P. Putnam’s Sons for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

As I read this, I could not help thinking about Dr. Seuss’s The Sneetches in which a machine is brought to town to change the lives of the inhabitants. There will be no Star-Bellied Sneetches, but there will be people in the small town of Deerfield, Louisiana who have their lives disrupted by the DYNAMIX machine. For $2.00 and a cheek swab, people learn their true life calling. So, when a stay-at-home wife of the high school teacher learns she was to be royalty, life at home changes. And as often happens, life turns to pain. A classmate tries to convince Jacob, a high school student, that they are to plot a revenge against the student who was with Jacob’s twin brother when he died in a drunk-driving accident. Best line in the book is when Jacob discovers “everyone on this planet is just one stranger’s decision away from eternity.” If you’re stuck at home because of COVID and you have YA students who can handle a more mature subject and language, this would be a great family read-aloud. Everyone needs more gratitude in their lives and this book makes the reader think about it.

As the town of Deerfield, Louisiana prepares for its bicentennial celebration, the mysterious DNAMIX machine appears in the local grocery store. In exchange for $2 and a cheek swab, Deerfield residents can learn their true destinies. Suddenly, the Catholic school principal resigns to become a carpenter, the mayor thinks he's a cowboy, and Cherilyn Hubbard is convinced she's meant to be royalty.

Cherilyn had been perfectly happy with her life as Douglas's wife, her mother's caretaker, and crafter/temp worker, although she had growing concerns about recent symptoms she'd experienced. Douglas is baffled by Cherilyn's sudden odd behavior, as well as crushed when he learns his true destiny is "Teacher. Whistler," exactly what he is, not the jazz trombonist he's harbored a secret desire to become.

At the same time, teenaged Jacob is grappling with his twin brother's death, and wondering what classmate Trina is planning.

Sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes cringey, and always entertaining, THE BIG DOOR PRIZE takes a unique approach at exploring the intersection of hopes, dreams, and crushing reality. #TheBigDoorPrize #NetGalley

Full of funny, quirky, lonely, damaged characters, “The Big Door Prize” tells the story of a town visited by an oracle. For the low price of $2, a person can be told their destiny. This promise takes a surprising number of reasonably happy middle-aged people down some crazy paths that both lead them away and back to the lives and people they love.

Although I haven’t figured out what the title alludes to, I'm giving this one 3.5 stars, rounded up.

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

Lots of potential that went I don't know where. It could have been a great book had it been taken in another direction. I enjoy reading outside of my genre to discover something different but this was no bueno. Happy reading!

I absolutely loved M.O. Walsh's debut novel, "My Sunshine Away", but I have to admit, this book was a major letdown. "The Big Door Prize" was trying to be so many different things. Very confusing plot. Also, way too many characters. I can't even give a quick summary because the writing was so muddled and pointless. Walsh needs to stick to darker, gothic fiction. This book was too light-hearted and fluffy for my taste. The sophomore slump is a real thing.

Release date: September 8, 2020

I thought this books started out so well-- interesting characters with interesting thoughts living in a quirky town. But as the book progressed it got muddier and muddier and the characters were just not that interesting and the town was just not that interesting to me me. That being said--I think this could still be a book that many readers would like--a variety of story lines, a little mystery, and somewhat happy endings in the end. To me the books just didn't know quite what it was.

Deerfield, Louisiana is celebrating its 200th anniversary, and the bicentennial motto is “Welcome to Deerfield!! 200 Years of Peace and Quiet!!” The peace of Deerfield is shattered when a mysterious machine appears in Johnson’s supermarket. The “DNAMix” supposedly gives you a ticket revealing your true destiny in exchange for a couple of bucks and a swab of your saliva, and within weeks the DNAMix creates total chaos.

At times eerily prescient and at times completely ridiculous, the DNAMix causes Deerfield’s inhabitants to be transfixed by what might have been, and what still might happen, if they make huge changes in their lives. The costume shop is mobbed with locals chasing their new destinies.

Meanwhile, high school history teacher Douglas’s newfound dreams of becoming a musician are undone as the DNAMix tells him he’s already fulfilled his destiny. This throws Douglas into a funk. Douglas is a very good man who adores his lovely wife Cherilyn. The DNAMix told Cherilyn that she was meant to be royalty, with mostly bad results.

Meanwhile, in the novel’s dark story line, the local Catholic priest, Pete, is very worried about his troubled niece, Trina. Grieving her boyfriend, Toby, who died in an auto accident, Trina blames Toby’s friends for his death. Trina is bullying Toby’s twin brother Jacob into participating in some sort of revenge plot: something far more dangerous than the mostly harmless fantasies obsessing the rest of the population.

In a place where everyone knows everyone else’s business, it’s going to be the wildest small town bicentennial celebration ever.

I enjoyed reading “The Big Door Prize" and recommend it to fans of southern fiction. One of the plot lines was anti-climactic after I was expecting something big to happen, and I didn't enjoy the primary female characters nearly as much as the primary male characters. However, by the time all of the plot lines converged at festival time in Deerfield, I had laughed, cried, and gotten the chills, but the novel felt so real that it never felt manipulative or cheesy. So you think you know people? Maybe you don’t know them at all.

I received an advanced readers copy of this book from the publisher and Netgalley and was encouraged to submit an honest review.

In a small town in Louisiana a mystery booth appears that will take your DNA sample & tell you your "potential". The bizarre & unlikely answers turn the town upside down making the residents rethink their lives. I read this because I loved M.O. Walsh's My Sunshine Away & this book was just as great. Lots to think about, I'd recommend this as a book club choice for sure!

The plot of this book was very intriguing and thought provoking and the characters were likeable. I recommend this book for all readers.

Like Fannie Flagg’s Southern stories, The Big Door Prize is populated by interesting characters in a small town. Ah, then the grocery store acquires an attraction: a machine which reveals the operator’s future successful occupation; however, the occupation does not necessarily match what the operator is presently doing. The town is talking. Needless to say, to the delight of the reader, interesting situations arise and complications occur.

Walsh also includes a major story line about twin brothers, one of whom dies because teenagers are sometimes irresponsible, reinforcing the overall theme questioning “what if?” and teaching acceptance.

This book was a fast and interesting read. I recommend it; however, please be aware that there are some loose ends. Thank you to Netgalley for an internet copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Big Door Prize
by M. O. Walsh
Read an Excerpt
PENGUIN GROUP Putnam
G.P. Putnam's Sons
General Fiction (Adult) | Literary Fiction
Pub Date 08 Sep 2020 | Archive Date Not set

Wow! What an interesting read. I've never read another book like it. I could not put it down.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC of this book.
4 stars

The whole time I was reading this book, I wasn’t sure if I liked it or not. I wasn’t sure if I was rooting for or against ANY of the major characters. It was a very .... unique experience. Yet I couldn’t put it down, determined to find out who would discover what about themselves and their loved ones next, the tension created in several of the plots leading to potential disaster driving me forward. I will say that the well fleshed out main characters numbering in the dozens was VERY impressive and well done.

What a delightful read, one that I enjoyed during the COVID lockdown. It was a nice escape. An interesting premise: how would you respond to the knowledge of your life potential, according to your genetic makeup? A machine shows up in the grocery store in the town of Deerfield, Louisiana. You enter like into a photobooth, give a sample, and the machine spits out a piece of paper with your fate printed on it. The characters are endearing, the writing is laugh-out-loud funny, and I was thoroughly entertained.

Welcome to Deerfield, Louisiana! The town with big heart and bigger quests for greatest potential-thanks to a new DNAMIX machine that has found itself located in the grocery store. Thats right, a machine that will swab your DNA and spit out the role your life is meant to fill, all for the low price of $2. This leads to a cast of heartwarming characters who have their lives turned on its head as they discover that they were really meant to become magicians, cowboys, and royalty!

This book is a unique view on the popular small town genre. I found the characters so warm and well written, The Big Door Prize explores what the meaning of life is and what role we play on reaching and accepting our destinies. When reading this gem, you will find yourself relating to the roller coaster of relationships and dynamics that come with living within a tight knit community.

I was taken by surprised at the range of topics covered in The Big Door Prize. Everything from sexual assault to father-son relationships, the depths of loneliness, and the simple yearning of more for your life. When I closed the final page of The Big Door Prize, I realized how thankful we should all be for the people who are in our lives and the simplicity of being satisfied with the life you have.

A mysterious machine shows up at a grocery store in a small town in Louisiana, it gives users a read out telling them their potential In life...based on a DNA sample. Interesting concept. The novel observes and makes observations of the town residents as they learn what the could have been and what they, potentially, could be. The concept bothers me.

Deerfield Louisiana is a typical American small town. For the most part, the residents are happy with their lives. Until one day, a machine that looks like a photo booth appears at the grocery store. For only $2.00, the DYNAMIX will analyze your cheek swab and tell you what life possibilities are out there waiting for you. Would you abandon what you have for the chance to be something more, something that you never considered or seemed out of reach? The residents of Deerfield are about to find out.
The main characters are married couple Douglas and Cherilyn Hubbard and Jacob Richieu. Douglas, a schoolteacher doesn't need the DYNAMIX machine to tell him what he could be. He already knows, the lure of music has already called his name. Cherilyn, a housewife, gladly gives up her money and DNA and finds her true potential is nothing like the life she is living. Jacob is a high school student whose twin Toby died recently. Between his father believing the DYNAMIX results telling him to be a cowboy, and Toby's girlfriend telling him things about his brother and the people of Deerfield, he soon finds himself confused and lost.
I enjoyed the beginning of The Big Door Prize, especially learning about not only the major characters but also the minor ones. It was interesting to see how they reacted to the DYNAMIX results, and it made me wonder if I would believe a machine that just showed up, and reminded me of a fortune-telling booth. This was much more character-driven than focused on the machine, and while I didn't love the ending, for the most part, I was intrigued by what would happen to these quirky people. My favorite character Tipsy didn't play a large role in the story, but I would have loved to spend more time with him. A good read, though the middle dragged a bit for me.3.5 stars.

The book begins and ends by asking “how can you know that your whole life will change on a day that the sun rises....”. We can never know what our destiny is - it’s all in the hands of God.

This is a really caring and interesting book with a new concept I have not seen before in fiction! Great characters and interwoven stories throughout.