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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The prologue was very confusing and hard to follow.
Part 1 was also okay, a little confusing. Dual narrative is interesting, I’ve never read one.
Part 2 kinda made me mad with how little happened
I’m 170 pages in and at least we have some idea of what the mystery is but it’s not super compelling
Part 3 was more engaging but I’m still not hooked
There’s a lot of parts in this story that Jess is reading that it would be impossible for the author to have that information (this is kinda addressed later on that he would make some small things up) but still is distracting.
There are a lot of times people are talking that it reads unnatural and not how a person would talk. Everyone can recall every small detail from decades ago
I feel like Part 4 should have been earlier in the book. At this point I’ve already lost most interest in the story. Okay part
Part 5 was really short not much say about it. Just okay
Part 6 was the best so far but still just okay
The story being non linear is interesting but it feels like we are covering the same points over and over and having a new perspective on the same point isn’t really adding much to the overall narrative.
I think the way the story is told is actively hurting my enjoyment of the contents of the story and the actual story is not that interesting.
Part 7 was again okay.
Part 8 was the most interesting I don’t know how I feel about this twist about Polly. The reveal of how the family died was very whatever.
This book has a very different view on nature vs nurture then I do. So different that it actually makes me mad.
Percy recognizing Polly and Thea 30 years later is so stupid.
Part 9 was the worst part
The guilty secrets of the past are interesting in this family saga. I enjoy books that have a lot of characters and multiple timelines. A dense mystery with lots of intrigue.
I did correctly guess multiple plot points before they were revealed but they was a pleasure more than a hinderance to my enjoyment.
I did correctly guess multiple plot points before they were revealed but they was a pleasure more than a hinderance to my enjoyment.
This has everything I love about Kate Morton books. It was atmospheric and mysterious. A wonderful slow burn, multigenerational mystery.
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I feel torn on how to describe this one. To put it simply, this book felt too long. Although the ideas and elements of the story I really enjoyed, there was just too many details and it felt like overkill and hard to enjoy. Again, the details were very beautifully written and to some readers, they would really enjoy every aspect of this book, but for me it felt like too much and was hard to get through. I do like where the book landed though and I feel like the conclusion was a satisfying one
Thanks to Simon & Schuster Canada and NetGalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I have to preface this review by saying that I've been a Kate Morton fan since her first novel, The House at Riverton (aka the Shifting Fog), which holds a special place in my bookshelf since I first read it. That being said, I'm not sure if it is because I've gotten older such that my tastes have really changed or that this novel wasn't up to the same level (or a combination of both), but I wasn't very thrilled by this book. I mostly enjoyed it but it was a struggle to get through at least 1/3rd of the novel that I felt didn't really add much to character development or the plot and could have been edited out to make it a much more concise read.
The novel starts on Christmas Eve of 1959 on the Turner family estate - Halcyon in Tambilla, South Australia - where a man stumbles across the bodies of a mother and three of her children. The family's newborn daughter is declared missing for several years since the events of the day. It is declared a murder-suicide for decades and a child's remains are found two decades later. The present day portion of the novel is set in 2018 and follows Jess, a journalist who lives in London, who receives a call that her grandmother Nora Turner-Bridges (relation to the Turner family above) has suffered a fall and Jess rushes to her side in Australia. Desperate to be there for Nora, she begins to dig deep hoping to get to the root of what is tormenting her beloved grandmother and caused her grandmother to venture into her house's attic - including the events that occurred on that fateful day in 1959.
The novel is told from a few perspectives - Jess, the man who discovers the family - Percy Summers, Polly (Jess's mother), and a true-crime novel written by an American journalist that details the events preceding and after the events in 1959. While it was an interesting approach and relatively easy to follow, these varied perspectives seemed unnecessary and added to the length of the novel. Several mysteries are presented throughout the novel, most of which I guessed early on but one caught me by surprise. Unfortunately, even with the good story and well-developed characters, the unnecessary length of the novel really took away from my enjoyment of it.
I have to preface this review by saying that I've been a Kate Morton fan since her first novel, The House at Riverton (aka the Shifting Fog), which holds a special place in my bookshelf since I first read it. That being said, I'm not sure if it is because I've gotten older such that my tastes have really changed or that this novel wasn't up to the same level (or a combination of both), but I wasn't very thrilled by this book. I mostly enjoyed it but it was a struggle to get through at least 1/3rd of the novel that I felt didn't really add much to character development or the plot and could have been edited out to make it a much more concise read.
The novel starts on Christmas Eve of 1959 on the Turner family estate - Halcyon in Tambilla, South Australia - where a man stumbles across the bodies of a mother and three of her children. The family's newborn daughter is declared missing for several years since the events of the day. It is declared a murder-suicide for decades and a child's remains are found two decades later. The present day portion of the novel is set in 2018 and follows Jess, a journalist who lives in London, who receives a call that her grandmother Nora Turner-Bridges (relation to the Turner family above) has suffered a fall and Jess rushes to her side in Australia. Desperate to be there for Nora, she begins to dig deep hoping to get to the root of what is tormenting her beloved grandmother and caused her grandmother to venture into her house's attic - including the events that occurred on that fateful day in 1959.
The novel is told from a few perspectives - Jess, the man who discovers the family - Percy Summers, Polly (Jess's mother), and a true-crime novel written by an American journalist that details the events preceding and after the events in 1959. While it was an interesting approach and relatively easy to follow, these varied perspectives seemed unnecessary and added to the length of the novel. Several mysteries are presented throughout the novel, most of which I guessed early on but one caught me by surprise. Unfortunately, even with the good story and well-developed characters, the unnecessary length of the novel really took away from my enjoyment of it.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a slow burn, but it is worth the read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment