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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
Excellent story. A little slow to start, but I loved the characters and the setting was perfect for an October read.
I went back and forth between 3 and 4 stars on this one. Ultimately, I landed on 3 because the ending was slightly disappointing to me because it is the least likely. This feels like one of those books that should have had a heartbreaking ending because that is the reality that so many actually faced during witch trials.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
The ridiculous ending to this book pushed me to downgrade my rating from 3 to 2 stars. Bohjalian made an admirable attempt to create a compelling story out of meager details drawn from primary sources but I found many parts of this book to be tedious, the outcome of the court cases were no surprise and I think he was off the mark with his focus on her sexual feelings for Henry and how often she masturbated. Really disappointing.
The pacing of this book is so incredibly sllooowwww. I had a hard time staying interested because it felt like nothing was ever going to happen. This is described as a historical thriller, but only half that description is accurate. Thriller it is not!
it was just a little too close to home after growing up in an abusive home
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A more accurate rating for me would be 2.5 stars. I have some Thoughts about this book.
I thought the setting was well done and the protagonist was interesting; I also burned through the entire second half of the book in one sitting, so there's that! On the other hand, certain themes/phrases started to feel really repetitive ("brain like white meat" and "sins added to one's ledger" come to mind). Finally, the ending definitely went off the rails a little. The buildup and the suffering and the tense atmosphere of the whole book ended with about five pages of payoff, not much of which felt realistic or true to the tone of the story. I'll try to summarize here:
So, Mary deduces out of nowhere that Peregrine is the real witch, because Thomas probably beat her when she was a child. (Where did she learn witch stuff? Who knows.) Peregrine and Rebeckah break Mary out of jail with the help of an uncle who was only introduced two pages previous; we have no idea why he's willing to risk his life or his soul to free a convicted witch, but okay. Peregrine then reveals that her father not only murdered her mother, but sexually assaulted her as a child - okay!! That's kind of a lot to dump on us in the last five pages of the book, but okay! Then they're cornered by Thomas on the way to the harbor, and Mary mcfreaking murders him in cold blood (quite the turnaround from a hundred pages ago, when she stopped trying to poison him at the last second because she was definitely Not willing to be a murderer, but okay), followed by Peregrine doing the same to the rando he was riding with. Mary then escapes Boston with her love interest, a man willing to give up literally everything for her for no reason, and we get a one-page epilogue where they're happily married and have a child and Mary still has a relationship with her parents and everything! Everything is fine, somehow!
I'm torn here, because I didn't want things to end with Mary dying for the crime of trying to escape her abusive husband. The problem is, the plot was written such that avoiding that ending required some serious deus ex machina. I was happy to suspend disbelief for the jailbreak; cool, we have an offscreen feminist uncle here, whatever. But then suddenly everything is murder and there are no consequences, and like, I'm not mad Thomas died! He had it coming! But the tone of the book took a hard left from "gritty historical drama" to "feminist power fantasy" really quickly. I enjoy both of those things; they just don't gel together very well, especially when the shift from one to the other is so abrupt. It makes the ending feel hollow - like, all right, I guess you could've saved yourself some trouble by actually murdering him the first time.
So as usual, I have mixed feelings. 2.5 stars are being rounded up for the well-drawn setting and a female protagonist who felt nuanced (if occasionally an idiot). But the longer I think about Henry Simmons as a character the more confused I get, so I'll stop here before I start wanting to round down!
I thought the setting was well done and the protagonist was interesting; I also burned through the entire second half of the book in one sitting, so there's that! On the other hand, certain themes/phrases started to feel really repetitive ("brain like white meat" and "sins added to one's ledger" come to mind). Finally, the ending definitely went off the rails a little. The buildup and the suffering and the tense atmosphere of the whole book ended with about five pages of payoff, not much of which felt realistic or true to the tone of the story. I'll try to summarize here:
So, Mary deduces out of nowhere that Peregrine is the real witch, because Thomas probably beat her when she was a child. (Where did she learn witch stuff? Who knows.) Peregrine and Rebeckah break Mary out of jail with the help of an uncle who was only introduced two pages previous; we have no idea why he's willing to risk his life or his soul to free a convicted witch, but okay. Peregrine then reveals that her father not only murdered her mother, but sexually assaulted her as a child - okay!! That's kind of a lot to dump on us in the last five pages of the book, but okay! Then they're cornered by Thomas on the way to the harbor, and Mary mcfreaking murders him in cold blood (quite the turnaround from a hundred pages ago, when she stopped trying to poison him at the last second because she was definitely Not willing to be a murderer, but okay), followed by Peregrine doing the same to the rando he was riding with. Mary then escapes Boston with her love interest, a man willing to give up literally everything for her for no reason, and we get a one-page epilogue where they're happily married and have a child and Mary still has a relationship with her parents and everything! Everything is fine, somehow!
I'm torn here, because I didn't want things to end with Mary dying for the crime of trying to escape her abusive husband. The problem is, the plot was written such that avoiding that ending required some serious deus ex machina. I was happy to suspend disbelief for the jailbreak; cool, we have an offscreen feminist uncle here, whatever. But then suddenly everything is murder and there are no consequences, and like, I'm not mad Thomas died! He had it coming! But the tone of the book took a hard left from "gritty historical drama" to "feminist power fantasy" really quickly. I enjoy both of those things; they just don't gel together very well, especially when the shift from one to the other is so abrupt. It makes the ending feel hollow - like, all right, I guess you could've saved yourself some trouble by actually murdering him the first time.
So as usual, I have mixed feelings. 2.5 stars are being rounded up for the well-drawn setting and a female protagonist who felt nuanced (if occasionally an idiot). But the longer I think about Henry Simmons as a character the more confused I get, so I'll stop here before I start wanting to round down!