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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
It felt like they were trying to jump on the “women can be murderers, too” train that Gillian Flynn made famous.
Such a tedious read, and the mystery was easily solved. Didn’t make much sense, though. It also seemed far fetched that Toby could kill Rafferty in the end.
Such a tedious read, and the mystery was easily solved. Didn’t make much sense, though. It also seemed far fetched that Toby could kill Rafferty in the end.
I liked this book a lot at the beginning but less and less as it moved forward. Without giving too much away, I thought some of the plot twists in the last quarter of the book were just awkward and unbelievable. It felt like French ended up distorting the characters to advance the story toward a predetermined conclusion.
I enjoyed this book and I have liked everything written by the author. The narrator with the loss of memory was an intriguing twist that made the outcome quite uncertain.
This was excellent - I really enjoyed the slow build, and the confusion of possibilities. This has so many elements in it but I felt that they worked really well. If you've enjoyed her Dublin Murder Squad series, or if you just like a well-written book and don't mind a little bit of violence, I highly recommend this.
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was really really well done, did not want to put it down.
Did not finish. Did not care enough to finish after a while. Way too much exposition. Could have been 200 pages less than what it is.
I want Ivy House.
I am tired of questionable protagonists.
I am tired of questionable protagonists.
Unexpected 5 stars, the ending was just absolutely dynamite and I loved how the author played with an unreliable narrator
After suffering a brain injury during a burglary at his apartment, Toby goes to live with his terminally ill uncle Hugo. When a skull is found in a hollow tree on Hugo's property, the cops eye up Toby as a suspect. But with his brain injury, he can't be sure he's responsible or not...
I've been awaiting this Tana French book since it was available for pre-order since her Dublin Murder Squad books are some of my favorite things. I almost canceled my pre-order when I saw this was a standalone but stuck with it.
Tana French is one of my must-buy authors so it pains me to say I almost tossed this one back on the pile. The skull isn't found until about a third of the way through the book. The writing is as sharp as ever but I felt like something was missing. It was glacially paced and I didn't really care for Toby. He was unsympathetic before the beating and I only liked him a little bit more after.
Once the skull was found, however, I tore through the book in two or three long sittings. When the fuzz started sniffing around, I was about 90% sure Toby did it and was going to wind up in the clink. French ratcheted up the suspense and I was hooked for the duration. At various times, she had me believing a few different people were the killer. Things eventually went off the rails in a huge way and I was quite glad I didn't chuck it.
Once the mystery really kicked in, the book was good, almost great. Before that, I felt like she was padding things until she figured out whether she was writing a literary novel or one of her usual literary-mystery hybrids. A third of the book is too much setup for what was basically a whodunnit, no matter how well written it is!
Okay then. The Witch Elm is an enjoyable book once you get over the sloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow start. I don't want to say Tana French should stick with the Dublin Murder Squad but her next attempt at a standalone needs to be more engaging than this. Three out of five stars.
I've been awaiting this Tana French book since it was available for pre-order since her Dublin Murder Squad books are some of my favorite things. I almost canceled my pre-order when I saw this was a standalone but stuck with it.
Tana French is one of my must-buy authors so it pains me to say I almost tossed this one back on the pile. The skull isn't found until about a third of the way through the book. The writing is as sharp as ever but I felt like something was missing. It was glacially paced and I didn't really care for Toby. He was unsympathetic before the beating and I only liked him a little bit more after.
Once the skull was found, however, I tore through the book in two or three long sittings. When the fuzz started sniffing around, I was about 90% sure Toby did it and was going to wind up in the clink. French ratcheted up the suspense and I was hooked for the duration. At various times, she had me believing a few different people were the killer. Things eventually went off the rails in a huge way and I was quite glad I didn't chuck it.
Once the mystery really kicked in, the book was good, almost great. Before that, I felt like she was padding things until she figured out whether she was writing a literary novel or one of her usual literary-mystery hybrids. A third of the book is too much setup for what was basically a whodunnit, no matter how well written it is!
Okay then. The Witch Elm is an enjoyable book once you get over the sloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow start. I don't want to say Tana French should stick with the Dublin Murder Squad but her next attempt at a standalone needs to be more engaging than this. Three out of five stars.