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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
Three words....PON.DER.OUS. This was so disappointing compared to her other books. I have no idea how long the text is, as we listened to the audio - but however long it could have been a good 25% shorter (at least) if she removed all the blah blah blah during scenes. The narrator's reactions were so over the top in many scenes, and some of the key scenes dragged when they took forever - I swear the big "confession" scene (won't tell you who or how or when) took at least an hour in listening form. I hope the next book is back in the Murder Squad series, and she falls out of love with the neverending analogies and similes in this one. I only give it two stars because of some likable and/or interesting characters, and the mystery at the center has an interesting story to think about. (PS - the reason it took us months to finish is that we borrowed the audio from the library, ran out of time, and then had to wait forever for it to come back to us.)
Objectively speaking you could say the story was interesting, but the lead character did not inspire empathy in the slightest so this book was a slog to get through.
once toby "promptly lost" the info for his physio appointment after leaving the hospital i checked out sorry tana
This was a good story and interesting characters. I think parts of it were too drawn out though. It could have been a shorter book.
Actual rating more like 1.5 stars
In this stand-along novel from the author of the Dublin Murder Squad novels, Toby survives a home invasion but has a bit of brain damage. At the request of his family, Toby goes to spend time with his dying uncle. During a family get-together, Toby’s young nephew discovers a skull in the old witch elm and, as detectives get closer to solving the case, Toby struggles to recall exactly what he may – or may not have – done during his teenage visit to the estate.
It absolutely killsme to rate this book low. I adored Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad books. She has a skill at building her characters and inching toward the solutions. With this book? The inching became, well, centimetering. Does that make sense? While I usually enjoy her slow build to the moment of ta-da, this book just crawled. And crawled. And crawled some more. I was asked why I did not DNF the book. Plan and simple? Because it is TANA FRENCH! I just kept waiting for the pace to increase and the drama to build to the point of bursting. It didn’t get there.
The characters kept the rating from failing to zero. I detested whiny Toby and loathed spoiled-brat Leon and was annoyed by “I am so smart I can get away with anything” Susanna and was charmed by Hugo. When an author can coax those strong emotions from a reader using only their words, it is a sign of talent.
But this plot just moved so slowly that my brain hurt. Twenty-two hours of listening I will never get back.
In this stand-along novel from the author of the Dublin Murder Squad novels, Toby survives a home invasion but has a bit of brain damage. At the request of his family, Toby goes to spend time with his dying uncle. During a family get-together, Toby’s young nephew discovers a skull in the old witch elm and, as detectives get closer to solving the case, Toby struggles to recall exactly what he may – or may not have – done during his teenage visit to the estate.
It absolutely killsme to rate this book low. I adored Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad books. She has a skill at building her characters and inching toward the solutions. With this book? The inching became, well, centimetering. Does that make sense? While I usually enjoy her slow build to the moment of ta-da, this book just crawled. And crawled. And crawled some more. I was asked why I did not DNF the book. Plan and simple? Because it is TANA FRENCH! I just kept waiting for the pace to increase and the drama to build to the point of bursting. It didn’t get there.
The characters kept the rating from failing to zero. I detested whiny Toby and loathed spoiled-brat Leon and was annoyed by “I am so smart I can get away with anything” Susanna and was charmed by Hugo. When an author can coax those strong emotions from a reader using only their words, it is a sign of talent.
But this plot just moved so slowly that my brain hurt. Twenty-two hours of listening I will never get back.
În Misterul Ulmului facem cunoștință cu protagonistul nostru, Toby, un băiat alb, fost sportiv, dintr-o familie mare, foarte bine educat, ce toată viața sa s-a considerat un om norocos. Tânăr, frumos, cu o iubită minunată, cu prieteni buni, o slujbă bine plătită, multe privilegii și tot tacâmul. Practic, acel golden retriever boy, dacă ar fi să o dăm pe termeni … Doar că o noapte aparent obișnuită se transformă într-un coșmar de proporții, iar Toby își dă seama că poate norocul lui tocmai s-a terminat. Accidentul își pune amprenta pe Toby atat fizic cât și mental, așadar se refugiază la Ivy House, casa unchiului său. Dar, când găsește un craniu în trunchiul unui ulm din grădină și declanșează o investigație, tânărul descoperă secrete care îi pun trecutul într-o lumină cu totul nouă.
Am terminat Misterul Ulmului cu capul în toate părțile, de parcă tocmai coborâsem dintr-un mountain rousse. Am citit-o mai lent, mi-am luat timp să diger și să analizez informațiile. Primele 150 de pagini sunt în special mai greu de parcurs, dar odată ce lucrurile încep să se complice, m-am simțit prinsă de poveste. Misterul ulmului este un roman mocnit, multe scene fiind relativ liniștite și concentrându-se pe dinamica dintre personaje. Este mai mult un thriller psihologic decât un thriller plin de acțiune, dar tocmai partea psihologică devine nucleul și frumusețea cărții.
Aveam așteptări puțin mai mari de la plot twist-ul de care vorbește toată lumea, care cred că ar fi putut fi și mai dramatic. Cu toate acestea, Tana French face o treabă genială în a stratifica fiecare personaj în parte și în a-l aduce la viață, iar asta este principalul atuu al cărții. Nu știi cine e victima, cine e suspectul, cine e rau sau bun. Atmosfera a fost una apăsătoare, de parcă piesa lipsă din puzzle era în fața ta, dar nu știai cum s-o potrivești, iar Ivy House devine fundalul perfect pentru tensiunea și ranchiuna care se instalează între Toby și verișorii săi.
Un roman ce se încadrează pe linia subțire dintre mister și suspans, după cum zice King însuși. Un studiu despre noroc, privilegiu și dinamica familiei
Am terminat Misterul Ulmului cu capul în toate părțile, de parcă tocmai coborâsem dintr-un mountain rousse. Am citit-o mai lent, mi-am luat timp să diger și să analizez informațiile. Primele 150 de pagini sunt în special mai greu de parcurs, dar odată ce lucrurile încep să se complice, m-am simțit prinsă de poveste. Misterul ulmului este un roman mocnit, multe scene fiind relativ liniștite și concentrându-se pe dinamica dintre personaje. Este mai mult un thriller psihologic decât un thriller plin de acțiune, dar tocmai partea psihologică devine nucleul și frumusețea cărții.
Aveam așteptări puțin mai mari de la plot twist-ul de care vorbește toată lumea, care cred că ar fi putut fi și mai dramatic. Cu toate acestea, Tana French face o treabă genială în a stratifica fiecare personaj în parte și în a-l aduce la viață, iar asta este principalul atuu al cărții. Nu știi cine e victima, cine e suspectul, cine e rau sau bun. Atmosfera a fost una apăsătoare, de parcă piesa lipsă din puzzle era în fața ta, dar nu știai cum s-o potrivești, iar Ivy House devine fundalul perfect pentru tensiunea și ranchiuna care se instalează între Toby și verișorii săi.
Un roman ce se încadrează pe linia subțire dintre mister și suspans, după cum zice King însuși. Un studiu despre noroc, privilegiu și dinamica familiei
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
I want my money back. I want my time back. Everyone in the Hennessy family is rage inducing. I’m a huge Tana French fan, but she def used up her free pass with this book. What a chore to read.
Not my favorite Tana French novel and it could have been told in less pages. I didn't like the ending arc of Toby's story, that it somehow needed to end with him in the same circumstances as his cousins. It seemed to diminish Hugo's story line.
I am just shy of 20 hours into this audiobook and I give up. I think it's still appropriate for me to leave a review though because I did suffer through about 88% of the book.
I feel like this book would have benefited from a thorough editing. It took about 4 hours to listen through the events leading to the burglary, the actual burglary, and the hospital afterwards. Then it was finally about at the 6 3/4 hours mark (I think) till we get to the skull in the tree. Yes, we were developing character....blah, blah, blah. If I hadn't been listening to this on audiobook, I would've given up way sooner. As it stood, I listened until I found out the story behind the skull and then quit. Perhaps some other loose ends were tied up in the last 2 hours but I didn't care any longer. The story at the heart was interesting, but it just seems to be that so much could've been left out.
I chose this book because I have had another title by the other on my shelf for a long time. At this point, I think it may just go in the trade-in pile though.
I feel like this book would have benefited from a thorough editing. It took about 4 hours to listen through the events leading to the burglary, the actual burglary, and the hospital afterwards. Then it was finally about at the 6 3/4 hours mark (I think) till we get to the skull in the tree. Yes, we were developing character....blah, blah, blah. If I hadn't been listening to this on audiobook, I would've given up way sooner. As it stood, I listened until I found out the story behind the skull and then quit. Perhaps some other loose ends were tied up in the last 2 hours but I didn't care any longer. The story at the heart was interesting, but it just seems to be that so much could've been left out.
I chose this book because I have had another title by the other on my shelf for a long time. At this point, I think it may just go in the trade-in pile though.