{"id":4102,"date":"2025-09-17T01:33:54","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T01:33:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=4102"},"modified":"2025-09-17T01:33:54","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T01:33:54","slug":"review-settle-down-by-ritt-dietz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=4102","title":{"rendered":"Review: Settle Down by Ritt Dietz"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Synopsis:<\/strong><\/p>\n

A college kid endowed with hypnotic powers keeps telling himself there\u2019s got to be more waiting for him after graduation than family in the neighborhood and an okay catering job. Maybe he just needs to get his story straight.<\/p>\n

Kenny McLuher is far from his native Wisconsin, in his last year at the University of Virginia, majoring in history with no idea what he\u2019s going to do with it. At his catering job, Kenny\u2019s old Southern folktales keep putting his co-workers to sleep, and in Kenny\u2019s dreams President Abraham Lincoln sure seems to be trying to tell him something.<\/p>\n

Maybe the pieces will come back together after graduation when Kenny returns to Madison, where he can ask the big question: What is home, anyway?<\/p>\n

Favorite Lines:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cKenny looked out over the pool, unsure what he had expected from this little pilgrimage. His parents had come here once in college, and it had seemed important to them. Kenny had wanted it to mean something to him, too. Sure, the homeless guy would be memorable, and the Orion thing was weirdly coincidental. And there sat Lincoln, belonging to the ages. But when he imagined the president asking him What are you doing here?<\/em>, Kenny couldn\u2019t think of any answer at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe so badly want to stay, don\u2019t we? We belong, we stay, we know. And yet things happen, and some of us leave. We just have to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt looked like a labor of love. Or boredom.\u201d<\/p>\n

My Opinion:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.<\/p>\n

Ritt Deitz\u2019s\u202fSettle Down\u00a0<\/em> follows Kenny McLuher, a Wisconsin native in his final year at the University of Virginia, as he grapples with the age\u2011old question: What is home, anyway? Majoring in history with no clear path beyond graduation, Kenny drifts between lecture halls, late\u2011night catering shifts, and echoes of Southern folktales he shares\u2014sometimes to the bemusement of his co\u2011workers. Through Kenny\u2019s gentle humor and restless curiosity, Deitz captures that universal limbo of young adulthood, when every choice feels both urgent and uncertain.<\/p>\n

The novel\u2019s heart lies in Kenny\u2019s evolving friendships\u2014especially with Laurent, his roommate whose quick wit and unexpected references to Civil War lore push Kenny to see his studies not as dusty dates but as living narratives. Their conversations, whether in the hush of the classroom or beneath the glow of the Lincoln Memorial, balance playful banter with moments of genuine revelation. Kenny\u2019s chance encounter with a cryptic stranger, hinting at Orion and otherworldly connections, infuses the story with a subtle magic that mirrors the way history itself can feel uncanny and alive.<\/p>\n

Deitz\u2019s writing style is unpretentious and warm, guiding us effortlessly between Kenny\u2019s internal monologue and the vivid campus landscape. The University of Virginia emerges as more than a backdrop\u2014it\u2019s a place steeped in myth and memory, where colonial architecture meets the hum of modern student life. Deitz peppers the narrative with historical allusions\u2014Abraham Lincoln\u2019s unfinished stories, John Wilkes Booth\u2019s shadow\u2014and by doing so, reminds us that every brick and bust on Grounds carries a tale waiting to be rediscovered.<\/p>\n

At its core,\u202fSettle Down <\/em>\u202fis a meditation on belonging. Kenny\u2019s Wisconsin roots tug at him even as he finds unexpected comfort in Charlottesville. In Deitz\u2019s hands, the search for \u201chome\u201d becomes both a physical journey\u2014back and forth between Madison and UVA\u2014and an emotional one, as Kenny learns that sometimes the place you\u2019re meant to \u201csettle down\u201d in is less about geography and more about the people who listen when you tell them a story.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Overall, Settle Down<\/em> is a warm, heartfelt coming-of-age tale about finding home in unexpected places. It\u2019s a quietly triumphant debut that will resonate with anyone who\u2019s ever wondered where they truly belong. Happy reading!<\/p>\n

Check out Settle Down<\/em> here!<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Synopsis: A college kid endowed with hypnotic powers keeps telling himself there\u2019s got to be more waiting for him after graduation than family in the neighborhood and an okay catering job. Maybe he just needs to get his story straight. Kenny McLuher is far from his native Wisconsin, in his last year at the University […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4103,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4102"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4102\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}