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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
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.
Read 12/27/2019
GR Synopsis: "Toby is a happy-go-lucky charmer who’s dodged a scrape at work and is celebrating with friends when the night takes a turn that will change his life—he surprises two burglars who beat him and leave him for dead. Struggling to recover from his injuries, beginning to understand that he might never be the same man again, he takes refuge at his family’s ancestral home to care for his dying uncle Hugo. Then a skull is found in the trunk of an elm tree in the garden—and as detectives close in, Toby is forced to face the possibility that his past may not be what he has always believed.
A spellbinding standalone from one of the best suspense writers working today, The Witch Elm asks what we become, and what we’re capable of, when we no longer know who we are."
My first introduction to Tana French. The pace of the story was really slow, concentrating more on character development than plot. Toby seems like an amiable enough guy, but what an ego. He's not arrogant, but he knows just how "lucky" he is and he goes through life with rose-colored glasses. The first sign of trouble has him unraveled, but what troubles him more is discovering how people see him and have seen him all his life. This revelation continues to brew and fester, eventually exploding and causing a catastrophic event that will forever change his life. The people who had meant the most to him have all gone and he's left wondering how things would have been different if he weren't so lucky.
GR Synopsis: "Toby is a happy-go-lucky charmer who’s dodged a scrape at work and is celebrating with friends when the night takes a turn that will change his life—he surprises two burglars who beat him and leave him for dead. Struggling to recover from his injuries, beginning to understand that he might never be the same man again, he takes refuge at his family’s ancestral home to care for his dying uncle Hugo. Then a skull is found in the trunk of an elm tree in the garden—and as detectives close in, Toby is forced to face the possibility that his past may not be what he has always believed.
A spellbinding standalone from one of the best suspense writers working today, The Witch Elm asks what we become, and what we’re capable of, when we no longer know who we are."
My first introduction to Tana French. The pace of the story was really slow, concentrating more on character development than plot. Toby seems like an amiable enough guy, but what an ego. He's not arrogant, but he knows just how "lucky" he is and he goes through life with rose-colored glasses. The first sign of trouble has him unraveled, but what troubles him more is discovering how people see him and have seen him all his life. This revelation continues to brew and fester, eventually exploding and causing a catastrophic event that will forever change his life. The people who had meant the most to him have all gone and he's left wondering how things would have been different if he weren't so lucky.
I can’t believe I spent hours reading these 500 pages! Welcome to the Donna Tart school of writing. Why spend one page of description or dialogue when you can take ten to do it? Tana French is a wonderful writer, there are some beautiful descriptions in this book, but.........it didn’t need to be so long. I have felt this before in her novels but the solution to the crimes have kept me going but I think this has done me in. No more Tana French for me!
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
I really wanted to love this book because I've heard great things about the author, but I don't think this was the right one to start with. I enjoyed the writing all the way through, and didn't mind the slow pace. However, it was a very long time to spend in the head of this entitled, manipulative protagonist. I believed we'd be watching a character transformation as he deals with a near-death experience, traumatic brain injury, and the unraveling of a gruesome crime in his family, but no such luck. I really enjoyed the first third of this book, but didn't feel very invested by the end.
I loved the first 400 pages a lot, even though the pacing is super slow for a traditional mystery, in that they don’t find the skull until 150 pages in. But his fight with/killing of the cop doesn’t work for me. It’s wildly bleak and was so upsetting to read, and it also seems so unbelievable that Toby could take down a large, strong cop who would know how to fight. And then there’s no explanation for the break-in that’s satisfying — why did they go through those drawers so thoroughly, was it just to look for that watch? I did really love the read for most of this book, Tana French is so good with the tension and love and complicated relationships between members of the family, and reading about the Ivy House is a pleasure.