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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
This is where I lost patience with Tana French. I enjoyed the Dublin Murder Squad series, even though they were always depressing because she told a good and interesting story. I finished this one and found that it never really entertained me and the resolution just wasn't worth the wait. It might be the first I've sped read through parts of trying to find the point.
I really liked some of her other books so wanted to like this. While the story itself is good and interesting, it was all quite long-winded without a worthwhile payoff. There wasn’t too much to love in the main characters and I found myself not really rooting for anyone in the end. Honestly I’d skip this one, will try another one of hers but this could have a good few chapters cut out.
Tana French's THE WYCH ELM is a grippingly dark and eerie look into the life of Toby, a young man whose life changes after a brutal attack. Struggling to return to his normal life, and frustrated with the slowness of his recovery, Toby goes to The Ivy House to stay with his Uncle Hugo, who is suffering with health problems of his own. The Ivy House has been in the family for years and years - Toby and his cousins, Susanna and Leon, grew up over summers spent at Hugo's, and there are memories there stretching from childhood all the way through to young adulthood.
The family's focus, however, is up-ended when a grim discovery is made in the garden one afternoon. From that moment on, everything Toby thought he knew is turned on its head and The Ivy House - and the wych elm at the bottom of the garden - begins to represent something else altogether.
This is the first of Tana French's books that I've read, and I wish I hadn't waited so long! Her writing is strikingly atmospheric and beautifully detailed without ever being stodgy. I could visualize The Ivy House so clearly in my mind - every brick, worn armchair, chipped mug and rattling windowpane. There's a beautiful gothic touch to it all and, in fact, Tana French's writing reminded me (only in positive ways!) of the breaking-down of style and structure I did many years ago in A-Level English Lit; looking at how authors use representation, symbolism and meaning in narrative to reflect emotions and storylines.
I always feel a book is more honest when the characters aren't 100% likeable - and that's the case with THE WYCH ELM. Almost every character has moments of being pretty unpleasant for one reason or another, and that makes the story all the more realistic and sharp.
The last portion of the book is pretty twisty, pulling several rugs out from under the reader, one after another. The ending was pleasingly conclusive, which is always a relief (nothing worse than a mystery without a clear finish). I really enjoyed this and will now be searching out the rest of Tana French's books.
The family's focus, however, is up-ended when a grim discovery is made in the garden one afternoon. From that moment on, everything Toby thought he knew is turned on its head and The Ivy House - and the wych elm at the bottom of the garden - begins to represent something else altogether.
This is the first of Tana French's books that I've read, and I wish I hadn't waited so long! Her writing is strikingly atmospheric and beautifully detailed without ever being stodgy. I could visualize The Ivy House so clearly in my mind - every brick, worn armchair, chipped mug and rattling windowpane. There's a beautiful gothic touch to it all and, in fact, Tana French's writing reminded me (only in positive ways!) of the breaking-down of style and structure I did many years ago in A-Level English Lit; looking at how authors use representation, symbolism and meaning in narrative to reflect emotions and storylines.
I always feel a book is more honest when the characters aren't 100% likeable - and that's the case with THE WYCH ELM. Almost every character has moments of being pretty unpleasant for one reason or another, and that makes the story all the more realistic and sharp.
The last portion of the book is pretty twisty, pulling several rugs out from under the reader, one after another. The ending was pleasingly conclusive, which is always a relief (nothing worse than a mystery without a clear finish). I really enjoyed this and will now be searching out the rest of Tana French's books.
Unlike many reviewers here, I found the beginning of the novel engrossing as Toby recovers from his attack and brain injury. He's a golden boy but I didn't find him that irritating and actually found it easy to sympathize as he adjusted to his new reality as someone with brain injury and PTSD.
I also really liked learning about his family, especially Uncle Hugo and his two cousins, Susanna and Leon. The way French describes the family dynamics seemed very plausible.
I was being drawn in deeper and deeper, feeling Toby's claustrophobia and paranoia, when BOOM something happens at the end of the book that seemed to tie things up too tidily and implausibly.
Still 4 stars though, because the prose is great and I liked 95% of the plot.
I also really liked learning about his family, especially Uncle Hugo and his two cousins, Susanna and Leon. The way French describes the family dynamics seemed very plausible.
I was being drawn in deeper and deeper, feeling Toby's claustrophobia and paranoia, when BOOM something happens at the end of the book that seemed to tie things up too tidily and implausibly.
Still 4 stars though, because the prose is great and I liked 95% of the plot.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5 ⭐️ not easy to rate given it’s one of my current favorite authors.
HMMMMMMM. I knew this wasn't a Dublin Murder Squad book, but I guess I don't really know what I thought it would be. Absolutely not a police procedural, which is what I expected. Not really even a a mystery, which is also what I expected. Almost no sympathetic characters, and it took forever to get to the mystery bit. After that, I felt like, again, it was a rip-off of The Secret History (like The Likeness). The writing style, the themes, the cover-up...I wanted to like it more than I did. I'm a big Tana French fan, but...meh.
A slow burn. More The Likeness than Faithful Place. Relationships, self-examination, a narrator who can't decide whether we should trust him or not.
I love it. Has the taut strings of close friendships like The Secret History and is French's normal beautiful prose.
I love it. Has the taut strings of close friendships like The Secret History and is French's normal beautiful prose.
