PositiveThe Texas Observer... lush descriptions and occasionally purple prose ... The aesthetic of God Spare the Girls is, in short, delightful. It’s Christian Girl Autumn—the social media sensation that captured the particular fashion (big scarves, tall boots, simple jeans) of well-off white women, a satirical response to Hot Girl Summer, the phenom popularized by fans of Megan Thee Stallion—meets televangelist and TV personality Joel Osteen, a surprisingly distinct Texas subculture ... In addition to biblical and Shakespearean parallels, the novel is packed with skillful nods to other writers. The most obvious influence is John Steinbeck ... One could also make a parallel to writer Anne Carson’s work ... Her poems on the nature of divinity are melancholic and feminist, similar to McKinney’s work ... If McKinney’s metaphors are occasionally obvious, I don’t mind.
