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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
3 stars. Gorgeously written. I adore Hargrave’s writing style and story telling. I picked this up because of how much I loved The Mercies but this one didn’t really work for me. The plot sounded interesting in the synopsis but the execution wasn’t that great. I was bored and while the characters were nice enough I just wasn’t invested. This isn’t a long book but it felt like it because the pacing was a bit off. Not my favorite but I still plan on reading through the rest of Hargrove’s back list.
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
the most beautiful writing and i've thought about the story since i finished it
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Lesbophobia
This was my initial introduction to the Dancing Plague.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book from the outset. It is an engaging narrative of secrets, love, and mysteries set against a historical backdrop of intense religious fervor. The book is beautifully written, and one becomes fully immersed in the characters and events. It made me both smile and cry. I have not read anything quite so emotionally impactful.
You can't help but feel affection for the main character, Lizbet. Through all she endured—the loss of her children, finding out about her sister-in-law, and finally giving birth to a live child—she persevered.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book from the outset. It is an engaging narrative of secrets, love, and mysteries set against a historical backdrop of intense religious fervor. The book is beautifully written, and one becomes fully immersed in the characters and events. It made me both smile and cry. I have not read anything quite so emotionally impactful.
You can't help but feel affection for the main character, Lizbet. Through all she endured—the loss of her children, finding out about her sister-in-law, and finally giving birth to a live child—she persevered.
slow-paced
2 1/2 stars, rounded up. The Mercies was a surprise favorite of 2019—I'd had high hopes for it, and saw them absolutely skyrocketed past—so I was really, really excited for The Dance Tree. And while Kiran Millwood Hargrave's prose remains as enchanting as ever, this just didn't have the magic in it for me. Not a whole lot happens in the short span of this novel, and there's only so far beautiful prose can make up for such a thing before even it feels like it's weighing the plot down. I did appreciate some of the novel's themes, and especially the glimpse into a very strange event in history (which, I have to admit, all my knowledge thereof comes from Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej—I actually did rewatch the episode of Puppet History on the dancing plague as I was reading this book!), but ultimately, this one just wasn't for me.
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No