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crochetparrot's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
3.25
it was okay. i read this on holiday and i don’t regret it, but i think i’d be a bit disappointed or not finish if i hadn’t been somewhere with not much else to do. it was fine, but not better.
pros and cons (with spoilers)
pros:
- interesting! lots of history about the troubles, particularly a social history focus.
- the atmosphere was well constructed. tense and uncomfortable in a good way.
- the description of the environment, the forest and hills, was beautiful. a real love letter to the irish border.
- i liked the family aspect of it. mam felt like a really fleshed out character.
cons:
- most characterisation was very weak. fergus was boring and kind of one-note. his sisters were deeply confusing - they seemed at times to be 3 and 4 years old and then suddenly 11 and 12. joe was interesting but very obviously a plot point. michael threatened to kill fergus’s friend and more, but fergus just forgives him like that? it felt weak. why was padraig even in it? there was also a lot of characters doing/saying things that felt very sudden and like the groundwork hadn’t been laid for it.
- cora’s characterisation was such a shame. she made no sense. she was flat and boring and had no personality other than manic pixie dream girl-ing around and being tragic. i assume this is on purpose to show us that fergus was putting her on a pedestal/idolising her, but there was very little from her actions or from other characters to imply that she was, in fact, interesting.
- the chemistry between fergus and cora was nonexistent. and the kissing was either very blandly described or so obliquely referenced i didn’t even realise it had happened.
- honestly mel’s story baffled me. it was so unclear whether it was her actual story, or just what fergus was imagining - but the things he was dreaming included things he didn’t find out until later? which made me think there would be much more of a fantasy/sci-fi connection between mel and fergus but that just sort of fizzled out and nothing was explained. i liked her story but there wasn’t enough of it for it to feel like part of the book properly.
- honestly baffled by cora and fergus just wafting around an archaeological site and being included in an autopsy and then attending conferences? like even for the 80s that feels odd. they’re meant to be children, and these academics are just like, ‘sure, whatever, come poke around in this dead body!’
it just felt unfinished. like it needed another edit, and maybe to be a bit longer. i don’t know. i just feel a bit like, oh, that’s it? ok.
pros and cons (with spoilers)
pros:
- interesting! lots of history about the troubles, particularly a social history focus.
- the atmosphere was well constructed. tense and uncomfortable in a good way.
- the description of the environment, the forest and hills, was beautiful. a real love letter to the irish border.
- i liked the family aspect of it. mam felt like a really fleshed out character.
cons:
- most characterisation was very weak. fergus was boring and kind of one-note. his sisters were deeply confusing - they seemed at times to be 3 and 4 years old and then suddenly 11 and 12. joe was interesting but very obviously a plot point. michael threatened to kill fergus’s friend and more, but fergus just forgives him like that? it felt weak. why was padraig even in it? there was also a lot of characters doing/saying things that felt very sudden and like the groundwork hadn’t been laid for it.
- cora’s characterisation was such a shame. she made no sense. she was flat and boring and had no personality other than manic pixie dream girl-ing around and being tragic. i assume this is on purpose to show us that fergus was putting her on a pedestal/idolising her, but there was very little from her actions or from other characters to imply that she was, in fact, interesting.
- the chemistry between fergus and cora was nonexistent. and the kissing was either very blandly described or so obliquely referenced i didn’t even realise it had happened.
- honestly mel’s story baffled me. it was so unclear whether it was her actual story, or just what fergus was imagining - but the things he was dreaming included things he didn’t find out until later? which made me think there would be much more of a fantasy/sci-fi connection between mel and fergus but that just sort of fizzled out and nothing was explained. i liked her story but there wasn’t enough of it for it to feel like part of the book properly.
- honestly baffled by cora and fergus just wafting around an archaeological site and being included in an autopsy and then attending conferences? like even for the 80s that feels odd. they’re meant to be children, and these academics are just like, ‘sure, whatever, come poke around in this dead body!’
it just felt unfinished. like it needed another edit, and maybe to be a bit longer. i don’t know. i just feel a bit like, oh, that’s it? ok.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
quejk25's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Murder, Religious bigotry, Violence, War, and Xenophobia
Minor: Ableism and Eating disorder
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