Yes, I think this is my problem with a lot of small town books actually - EITHER the small town is an idyllic utopia of acceptance OR it is hell on earth and there is no sense that it could be both things to different people (or both things to the same person over the course of a lifetime).
Not that I want every book set in a small town to be a sociological exploration of Acceptance and Rejection: Social Dynamics of a small town, but I do want it to feel real and often they don't. I think this is especially true in modern books, perhaps because fewer people live in small towns these days - authors are writing out of hopes and fears rather than experience. Older books are more likely to have "I love my small town BUT ALSO there are some definite flies in this ointment."
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Not that I want every book set in a small town to be a sociological exploration of Acceptance and Rejection: Social Dynamics of a small town, but I do want it to feel real and often they don't. I think this is especially true in modern books, perhaps because fewer people live in small towns these days - authors are writing out of hopes and fears rather than experience. Older books are more likely to have "I love my small town BUT ALSO there are some definite flies in this ointment."