Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - The Witch Elm

Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

The Witch Elm by Tana French

14 reviews

surefinewhatever_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

Thanks, I hated it.

Let me start with the one redeeming quality of this book, Tana French can write a damn house! Just like the home in The Likeness, I could picture the Ivy House perfectly! It was cozy (until it wasn’t) and atmospheric and just so vibrantly written.

But that skill is not enough to save this book. Not only is every single character (except Hugo, whom I felt affection for and wanted to see more of) unlikeable, but our protagonist is the *most* unlikeable of the bunch. Seriously. Irredeemably so. I guessed the killer prior to the reveal, but that’s not saying a whole lot as this book is SLOW. And lastly, though frankly most importantly, this book is ableist and fatphobic as FUCK. Like, jarringly so. I felt like I was constantly being pulled out of the story because I was taken aback by the ableist comments. Bad bad bad.

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ellipalmer's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

It's hard to say much about what I liked about The Witch Elm without venturing into topics that feel like spoilers. It took about 150 pages to get to the meat of the story, which felt like a long time. If it were another author who I didn't know I might have felt annoyed, but in my experience Tana French knows what she's doing. While I still feel like the first 1/3 dragged a bit, pushing through definitely paid off. The writing is top knotch, French a master of plot and psychologically complex character development. I watched an interview with her where she said that she's less interested in "who did it" than "who the detective is" and the impact of the mystery/story on the person trying to work their way through it and find the truth. I think that's what makes her stories so good. You want to know who did it, but the payoff is deeper and longer lasting because solving the mystery doesn't put the world back in order. The detective is forever changed and solving the case doesn't bring the satisfaction and closure they hoped it would.

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vanlaire's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

3.75

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caidyn's review

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This review can also be found on my blog!

Thanks to Viking for a copy in exchange for an honest review! Publishing October 9th!

CW: bullying, attempted sexual assault, homophobia, burglary, graphic beating, and cancer

I’m really conflicted about this book. Really, really conflicted. Because, on one hand, it wasn’t at all what I expected and was something new from French, who is an author I love from her Dublin Murder Squad series, yet it also wasn’t as exciting as I wanted it to be. It waffled between three and four stars for me, but I landed on four.

At first, I thought this was a retelling of Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm, a famous unsolved mystery from England. But it’s just inspired by it. Which works because there are so many weird theories and thoughts about that case, so she was able to take the idea of a body found in a tree without dealing with anything else.

But, what is this book really about?

It’s about Toby, a man who has the whole world going for him… until a brutal home invasion leaves him scarred, both physically and mentally. His uncle, Hugo, is dying of cancer and, for a break, he moves in with him as a caretaker. One day, his cousin Susanna’s kids are playing and finds a skull in the witch elm in the lawn.

From there, the secrets pour out.

It’s a slow read. Like, it took nearly 40% of the book to get to actually finding the skull — which is why I think the synopsis gives too much away, but also the title immediately calls the unsolved mystery to mind so it’s hard to get away from spoilers. Then the hunt took forever. The reveal came at 80%. Then there was still 20% to build-up.

That’s a huge con for me, honestly, yet it oddly worked at the same time?

It’s a family drama. Okay? It’s not a crime procedural like she’s done in all her other books. It focuses on the family Toby has. His dying uncle Hugo, his own memory loss, his stay-at-home-mom cousin Susanna, and his gay, wandering cousin Leon. And everyone’s important to the book in some way. The story revolves around this family drama and the unsaid things and secrets kept.

I can’t say too much more than that, honestly. It’s one of those weird books where everything happens but nothing happens. If you want something thrilling, this isn’t the book for you. If you want something that meanders the path to get to the conclusion, you’ll like it.

6/29/18

I.
GOT.
AN.
ARC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks to Viking for an e-copy of this in exchange for an honest review!

Original review (6/28/18):

IS THIS A TELLING OF THE WHO PUT BELLA IN THE WYCH ELM CASE?????????????????????????

i need it

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