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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
Not quite gothic, but definitely a story of a house haunted by ghosts. Family ghosts trying to hold others to promises. A family full of regret and anger and haunted by those that came before.
While there were moments of drag, I did enjoy the story of Trevor Riddell and his family, forces to go back to their ancestral estate near Seattle to try and get Grandpa Samuel to sell it for profit. However, there was a promise made years before that it would be returned to the city to atone for mistakes made by the original builder and family patriarch Elijah.
Trevor must come to terms with ghosts of family past, an aunt that is seriously unhinged and manipulative, and a father that is clinging to guilt and regret.
The audiobook was well-narrated, and I think helped move the story along in the slower parts.
While there were moments of drag, I did enjoy the story of Trevor Riddell and his family, forces to go back to their ancestral estate near Seattle to try and get Grandpa Samuel to sell it for profit. However, there was a promise made years before that it would be returned to the city to atone for mistakes made by the original builder and family patriarch Elijah.
Trevor must come to terms with ghosts of family past, an aunt that is seriously unhinged and manipulative, and a father that is clinging to guilt and regret.
The audiobook was well-narrated, and I think helped move the story along in the slower parts.
VERY different from The Art of Racing in the Rain, but I appreciated the change. An intricate story of family angst complicated by spirits who live in the house. They are actual characters in the story so if the supernatural is not your cup of tea, skip this read.
Odd story.
Serena is a thoroughly detestable character. She’s a sociopath. Also, she’s watched way too much "Scooby Doo."
It’s a ghost story and family history and a logging vs nature story and a Bildungsroman. It spans three generations in one house with the Patriarch who is being framed for senility, his two children, Serena and Brother Jones (yuck) and then Jones' son, Trevor.
Grandpa wants to keep the house and land because he made a promise to a ghost.
Serena wants to sell the land and make lots of money and she's lured her brother back in order to help her.
Trevor learns about his family history through letters, dreams, and ghostly visitations.
It borders on melodramatic and I found myself irritated throughout.
Overall: Meh. 2 stars
Serena is a thoroughly detestable character. She’s a sociopath. Also, she’s watched way too much "Scooby Doo."
It’s a ghost story and family history and a logging vs nature story and a Bildungsroman. It spans three generations in one house with the Patriarch who is being framed for senility, his two children, Serena and Brother Jones (yuck) and then Jones' son, Trevor.
Grandpa wants to keep the house and land because he made a promise to a ghost.
Serena wants to sell the land and make lots of money and she's lured her brother back in order to help her.
Trevor learns about his family history through letters, dreams, and ghostly visitations.
It borders on melodramatic and I found myself irritated throughout.
Overall: Meh. 2 stars
I loved The Art of Racing in the Rain. I don't know if it was the best written book but I enjoyed it a lot - enough to want to read another of his books. And this one sounded really interesting to me. I read about half and just couldn't go on. I kept thinking it was just me and keep pushing through, but ultimately for me, the writing just didn't stand up to the story.
I wish I was one of the ones who loved it. But that's what is great about books - there's something out there for everyone. This one was just not for me.
I wish I was one of the ones who loved it. But that's what is great about books - there's something out there for everyone. This one was just not for me.
"Perhaps that's what life is about-the search for such a connection. The search for magic. The search for the inexplicable. Not in order to explain it, or contain it. Simply in order to feel it. Because in that recognition of the sublime, we see for a moment the entire universe in the palm of our hand. And in that moment, we touch the face of God."
I really loved The Art of Racing in the Rain, and I really wanted to love this. My first thought is really just a big "MEH". It's not bad, it's just missing... something.
I mean, an old mansion with secret passageways, the Pacific Northwest, ghosts, forests, emotional family drama, secret pasts; the recipe for an amazing novel in the right hands. Unfortunately, it just ended up feeling a bit flat to me.
I really loved The Art of Racing in the Rain, and I really wanted to love this. My first thought is really just a big "MEH". It's not bad, it's just missing... something.
I mean, an old mansion with secret passageways, the Pacific Northwest, ghosts, forests, emotional family drama, secret pasts; the recipe for an amazing novel in the right hands. Unfortunately, it just ended up feeling a bit flat to me.
I had high hopes for this book...although I liked many elements of it, it was not at all what I had expected.
Clever Trevor Riddell is 14 when he first sees his father's childhood home. It was built by his great great grandfather, Elijah, a timber baron of the the early years of Pacific NW logging. Trevor's Dad, Jones, has not been back in 23 yrs. His grandpa Samuel & Aunt Serena are still living in the decaying old house. Trevor knows that things are not what they seem, so digs into the family history, finding jounals and letters, seeing ghosts and becoming close w/ Grandpa Samuel. Good story, well written
I think I must have confused this with something else. Something better. Kind of silly and over the top, but the writing was okay.
My review (as published at Read, Run, Ramble):
Thank you Simon & Schuster via Netgalley for providing me with an early copy of this book!
If there is anything to say about Garth Stein, it is this: he has a knack for writing unique and purely lovable narrators who bring a story into a whole new light for readers!
In A Sudden Light the narrator is a 14-year-old boy, Trevor, who just wants his parents not to get a divorce. Upon his parents’ separation, his father, Jones, takes him to The North Estate – Jones’s childhood home. It is there where Trevor digs into his legacy and the history of his ancestors. Where he learns the events that formed the man his father has become. Where he becomes intimately familiar with relatives of whom he’s never even heard.
Stein’s prose is as mesmerizing as his narrator is endearing. His words transform the world around the reader into the logging legacy that is The North Estate. Readers will have no problem feeling a part of this story. Through Trevor readers will learn the controversial and haunting past that has crippled the Riddells for some time. The history that caused their downfall.
Something else I’ve noticed in Stein’s characters is the fact that he can also write the characters reader love to hate. Sister Serena is one of those. She’ll keep readers wondering what exactly she’s up to the whole time, but one thing is clear – she is up to no good!
A little bit coming of age, a little bit ghost story, and a little bit crazy family legacy, all seen through the eyes of a young man who is confused, scared, and hurting, but is determined to find answers and hopefully bring his family back together.
I was provided with an ARC of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I am not compensated for any of my reviews.
Thank you Simon & Schuster via Netgalley for providing me with an early copy of this book!
If there is anything to say about Garth Stein, it is this: he has a knack for writing unique and purely lovable narrators who bring a story into a whole new light for readers!
In A Sudden Light the narrator is a 14-year-old boy, Trevor, who just wants his parents not to get a divorce. Upon his parents’ separation, his father, Jones, takes him to The North Estate – Jones’s childhood home. It is there where Trevor digs into his legacy and the history of his ancestors. Where he learns the events that formed the man his father has become. Where he becomes intimately familiar with relatives of whom he’s never even heard.
Stein’s prose is as mesmerizing as his narrator is endearing. His words transform the world around the reader into the logging legacy that is The North Estate. Readers will have no problem feeling a part of this story. Through Trevor readers will learn the controversial and haunting past that has crippled the Riddells for some time. The history that caused their downfall.
Something else I’ve noticed in Stein’s characters is the fact that he can also write the characters reader love to hate. Sister Serena is one of those. She’ll keep readers wondering what exactly she’s up to the whole time, but one thing is clear – she is up to no good!
A little bit coming of age, a little bit ghost story, and a little bit crazy family legacy, all seen through the eyes of a young man who is confused, scared, and hurting, but is determined to find answers and hopefully bring his family back together.
I was provided with an ARC of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I am not compensated for any of my reviews.