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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
extremely unsettling. i was promised something shirley jackson-esque and this did not disappoint.
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Picnic At Hanging Rock was a book club pick I read recently and it is an Australian historical fiction novel that was published in the 60’s.
It is set in 1900 and is about a group of young women from a boarding school who go missing as well as a teacher on a school trip at Hanging Rock. The book explores the effects of their disappearance on the local community and school.
It is written in a way that makes it feel like a true crime novel and you find yourself quickly reading through the pages to try and work out what happened to those young girls. There is a slight supernatural feel to it which I liked, alongside a feeling of foreboding and tension in the air. Were they murdered? Did they get lost and die from starvation? It gave me lots of questions and not many answers to my frustration!
I believe the author wanted the reader to decide their fate which works well in some scenarios but for me I needed closure (as usual!).
Another issue for me was that all the characters were forgettable and didn’t leave a lasting impression on me which I think prevented me from loving the book. I did enjoy parts of it and the writing is excellent although the pacing was very slow at times which is difficult when it is quite a short novel and made parts of it quite dull.
The descriptions of the landscape were very well written and gave a dark atmosphere to this book and it depicted the time well.
Overall, I have mixed feelings about it. I am glad I read it as it is a classic that I hear a lot about, it is just that I hate an unsolved mystery so the ending was disappointing for me.
It is set in 1900 and is about a group of young women from a boarding school who go missing as well as a teacher on a school trip at Hanging Rock. The book explores the effects of their disappearance on the local community and school.
It is written in a way that makes it feel like a true crime novel and you find yourself quickly reading through the pages to try and work out what happened to those young girls. There is a slight supernatural feel to it which I liked, alongside a feeling of foreboding and tension in the air. Were they murdered? Did they get lost and die from starvation? It gave me lots of questions and not many answers to my frustration!
I believe the author wanted the reader to decide their fate which works well in some scenarios but for me I needed closure (as usual!).
Another issue for me was that all the characters were forgettable and didn’t leave a lasting impression on me which I think prevented me from loving the book. I did enjoy parts of it and the writing is excellent although the pacing was very slow at times which is difficult when it is quite a short novel and made parts of it quite dull.
The descriptions of the landscape were very well written and gave a dark atmosphere to this book and it depicted the time well.
Overall, I have mixed feelings about it. I am glad I read it as it is a classic that I hear a lot about, it is just that I hate an unsolved mystery so the ending was disappointing for me.
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
mysterious
medium-paced
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
loved the atmosphere and descriptions but found the pace a bit odd