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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
My small book club picked this book for our October read. We’re all from Michigan, and a Michigan bookstore clerk recommended it since it’s set in the UP. We went into it blind, thinking it would be a spooky thriller or something akin to Law and Order: SVU.
Lemme tell you - Not a thriller! This book was dark, violent and unsettling. Not at all what I was expecting! Also, some trigger warnings for animal violence (hunting and not) would have been nice. While the writing was well done and it was a fast-paced read, I just did not have a good time.
The narrator/FMC lacked all empathy and compassion. I understand someone raised as she was would be stunted in every way imaginable, but her utter lack of empathy for her mother (past and present), her undeserving and mystifying love for her father after everything he did were impossible to get past. Years later, she was still a fairly terrible person to her mom, children and husband. Yes, she’s a badass in a lot of ways, but she was kind of an asshole in even more.
Again, the writing was good. It was very descriptive and easy to read! But the emotional inconsistencies, the unimaginable pain and the lack of self awareness tainted the whole book for me.
Lemme tell you - Not a thriller! This book was dark, violent and unsettling. Not at all what I was expecting! Also, some trigger warnings for animal violence (hunting and not) would have been nice. While the writing was well done and it was a fast-paced read, I just did not have a good time.
The narrator/FMC lacked all empathy and compassion. I understand someone raised as she was would be stunted in every way imaginable, but her utter lack of empathy for her mother (past and present), her undeserving and mystifying love for her father after everything he did were impossible to get past. Years later, she was still a fairly terrible person to her mom, children and husband. Yes, she’s a badass in a lot of ways, but she was kind of an asshole in even more.
Again, the writing was good. It was very descriptive and easy to read! But the emotional inconsistencies, the unimaginable pain and the lack of self awareness tainted the whole book for me.
4.5
Very fast-paced thriller that immerses the reader into the marshland and the world of our protagonist.
Very fast-paced thriller that immerses the reader into the marshland and the world of our protagonist.
I think this book's categorization as "thriller" is a little misleading. It's a gothic novel wearing the clothes of a thrilling survival story. What needs to be confronted here is not a single predator, but a whole past--a set of emotions and stories written onto a landscape and onto Helena's mind. What's astonishing here is not the chase, but Helena's slow realization that what she has understood as true might not be, that the old stories she has need to be reevaluated in order to allow her to move forward. A lot of the small moments in this book are profoundly disturbing (at least to me), but the arc of the story is beautiful.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
I really enjoyed this book! A little bit of a psychological thriller, beautiful details about the UP, and a cat and mouse type hunt. I didn’t want to put it down once I started reading.
This knocked the wind out of me. Absolutely amazing. It was like literary fiction meets psychological thriller.
Helena’s mom was kidnapped and held hostage for 14 years, and gave birth to Helena during her ordeal. Helena’s memories are beautiful- but they have to be viewed through a very dark lens. This book was like a knife that kept twisting and didn’t let go. Best book I’ve read in a long time.
Helena’s mom was kidnapped and held hostage for 14 years, and gave birth to Helena during her ordeal. Helena’s memories are beautiful- but they have to be viewed through a very dark lens. This book was like a knife that kept twisting and didn’t let go. Best book I’ve read in a long time.
I was excited for this book as a Michigander who spent her summers in the Upper Peninsula because of all the local references and that aspect definitely didn’t disappoint. I am a big baby, though, and this was too gruesome for me at times. Interestingly, the kidnap and rape of Helena’s mother was almost glossed over, but the (trigger warning!) killing of animals and beating of people made my stomach turn.
Overall, though, the Marsh King’s Daughter is beautifully written. It alternates between Helena’s current day tracking of her father and her days in the abandoned, off-grid cabin. The ties to Hans Christian Anderson’s fairytale were a unique and whimsical touch to such a harsh story and backdrop.
I’ve read that this will become a movie, which I would definitely watch.
Overall, though, the Marsh King’s Daughter is beautifully written. It alternates between Helena’s current day tracking of her father and her days in the abandoned, off-grid cabin. The ties to Hans Christian Anderson’s fairytale were a unique and whimsical touch to such a harsh story and backdrop.
I’ve read that this will become a movie, which I would definitely watch.
I read this for my mother, and so we could go see the new movie based on the book. the book was good! i enjoyed the setting, being a girl from Michigan.
The idea of a girl born and raised in isolation was interesting, but I didn't like the inconsistencies between the young and the old Helen. One would think that given the circumstances, she won't grow up to be such a "normal" person.
And what about the toothpaste and our perishable teeth? How to survive without a dentist? :)
And what about the toothpaste and our perishable teeth? How to survive without a dentist? :)