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quoth_chloe's review
3.0
My Review-
I really liked the main character Madeline, she was a strong character who made some difficult decisions throughout this book. She had a lot of conflict going on with her personal, romantic life as well as her relationships with her family. It was interesting to see her cope with the things that were thrown at her and how she dealt with all the strange information she learned.
Catlin, her twin sister, was a completely different story. I could not stand her, she was so toxic. Even right at the beginning of the book she was so catty. She clearly cares for her sister and throughout the book she does worry for her and support her, there are just a few comments and things she does that hurt Madelin and Catlin could not see that. She was also very overly sexual in the beginning of the book, it came on a bit strong. I am all about expressing sexuality but I don't know, it was a lot for the beginning of the book. Throughout the book it was completely fine and it didn't bother me, it was just the first couple of chapters.
Their family is interesting, their mum tries to be supportive of the girls and wants to do what's best for them but she doesn't. She doesn't understand Madelin and the things she does and instead of trying to help her and talk to her about it, just gets angry and tells her to stop. I feel like this is something a lot of people will be able to relate to, many people have parents or family members that don't understand their mental health struggles and its represented well in this book. Their new stepfather is another interesting character the entire way through the book you don't know how to feel about him, he is a really nice person who is so in love with their mum but there is obviously something going on. His father wasn't a nice person and you slowly learn more about this throughout the story.
Mamo was one of my favourite characters, you genuinely have no idea what she is doing most of the time and she's scary. You have no idea if you can trust her or not or if she is a good person or is up to no good. I really liked the mystery surrounding her and I liked her more and more throughout the book. I just wish there were a few more answers surrounding certain things she may or may not do, you never find out what's going on so hopefully there is a sequel.
The other characters throughout this, the people from the town were also strange. They were distant and closed off, which was to be expected of such a small town. I just feel that there wasn't enough information about them. you heard all of these rumours about this notorious family and then never actually interacted with them properly? I don't think the town was as fleshed out as I would have hoped.
I really liked the setting, the castle where the girls lived was amazing and the town and the scenery was really well detailed. It felt like I was there, there were parts in this book where I felt cold, it was really immersive in some parts which I really enjoyed. The writing style was really lyrical, I really enjoyed it, it was perfect for this book.
I loved the natural aspect of this book, I loved the facts about plants and being a plant lover myself, I really enjoyed reading about them.
There were a couple of things I disliked about this book, the main problem I had was that I knew almost nothing about the girls who had previously been murdered in the town and I felt like I couldn't really feel anything about it as there wasn't enough information. The entire time the characters are talking about how they are reading about them and researching them and they really grow a connection to them and as a reader I felt I missed out on that. I just wish there was a little more information about the girls and who they really were. I do also understand that the town keeps it pretty quiet but if Madelin or Catlin are reading about I don't understand why the reader couldn't have learnt something. I don't care about learning more about the deaths, I just wanted to be able to care about the girls.
The other huge problem I had was the amount of animal abuse and dead animals there were throughout this book. There was something that Madelin does near the end that nearly made me DNF this whole book. I know that animal death happens and the natural ones that happen in this book, whilst uncomfortable, I could deal with. But I could not handle the abused and tortured animals. Especially what Madelin does at the end, I felt it was an unnecessary thing to have in the book, it left an animal mutilated and I DO NOT want to read about that, especially in that much detail.
Overall, this book was an incredibly descriptive and unique read and I feel that a lot of people are going to absolutely love this. If you love dark, atmospheric books then this is for you.
My rating- 3/5 stars
UK Release Date- May 30th 2019
I really liked the main character Madeline, she was a strong character who made some difficult decisions throughout this book. She had a lot of conflict going on with her personal, romantic life as well as her relationships with her family. It was interesting to see her cope with the things that were thrown at her and how she dealt with all the strange information she learned.
Catlin, her twin sister, was a completely different story. I could not stand her, she was so toxic. Even right at the beginning of the book she was so catty. She clearly cares for her sister and throughout the book she does worry for her and support her, there are just a few comments and things she does that hurt Madelin and Catlin could not see that. She was also very overly sexual in the beginning of the book, it came on a bit strong. I am all about expressing sexuality but I don't know, it was a lot for the beginning of the book. Throughout the book it was completely fine and it didn't bother me, it was just the first couple of chapters.
Their family is interesting, their mum tries to be supportive of the girls and wants to do what's best for them but she doesn't. She doesn't understand Madelin and the things she does and instead of trying to help her and talk to her about it, just gets angry and tells her to stop. I feel like this is something a lot of people will be able to relate to, many people have parents or family members that don't understand their mental health struggles and its represented well in this book. Their new stepfather is another interesting character the entire way through the book you don't know how to feel about him, he is a really nice person who is so in love with their mum but there is obviously something going on. His father wasn't a nice person and you slowly learn more about this throughout the story.
Mamo was one of my favourite characters, you genuinely have no idea what she is doing most of the time and she's scary. You have no idea if you can trust her or not or if she is a good person or is up to no good. I really liked the mystery surrounding her and I liked her more and more throughout the book. I just wish there were a few more answers surrounding certain things she may or may not do, you never find out what's going on so hopefully there is a sequel.
The other characters throughout this, the people from the town were also strange. They were distant and closed off, which was to be expected of such a small town. I just feel that there wasn't enough information about them. you heard all of these rumours about this notorious family and then never actually interacted with them properly? I don't think the town was as fleshed out as I would have hoped.
I really liked the setting, the castle where the girls lived was amazing and the town and the scenery was really well detailed. It felt like I was there, there were parts in this book where I felt cold, it was really immersive in some parts which I really enjoyed. The writing style was really lyrical, I really enjoyed it, it was perfect for this book.
I loved the natural aspect of this book, I loved the facts about plants and being a plant lover myself, I really enjoyed reading about them.
There were a couple of things I disliked about this book, the main problem I had was that I knew almost nothing about the girls who had previously been murdered in the town and I felt like I couldn't really feel anything about it as there wasn't enough information. The entire time the characters are talking about how they are reading about them and researching them and they really grow a connection to them and as a reader I felt I missed out on that. I just wish there was a little more information about the girls and who they really were. I do also understand that the town keeps it pretty quiet but if Madelin or Catlin are reading about I don't understand why the reader couldn't have learnt something. I don't care about learning more about the deaths, I just wanted to be able to care about the girls.
The other huge problem I had was the amount of animal abuse and dead animals there were throughout this book. There was something that Madelin does near the end that nearly made me DNF this whole book. I know that animal death happens and the natural ones that happen in this book, whilst uncomfortable, I could deal with. But I could not handle the abused and tortured animals. Especially what Madelin does at the end, I felt it was an unnecessary thing to have in the book, it left an animal mutilated and I DO NOT want to read about that, especially in that much detail.
Overall, this book was an incredibly descriptive and unique read and I feel that a lot of people are going to absolutely love this. If you love dark, atmospheric books then this is for you.
My rating- 3/5 stars
UK Release Date- May 30th 2019
goldenslug's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Cannibalism, and Murder
Minor: Death of parent
hellonora's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
shauniesbookshelves's review against another edition
2.0
4 or 5 out of 10. I did not enjoy this one. Sorry
kimberlyyyreads's review against another edition
2.0
Honestly I thought I was gonna like this book but I really didn’t. Maybe it’s because the writing style just wasn’t for me or maybe it’s because I wasn’t a big fan of the plot or the MC and her twin sister I truly don’t know :/ and sadly I really can’t remember what happened in the book
helenmcg's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
maireador20's review against another edition
2.0
Didn't enjoy this as much as I expected to. The creepy, witchy vibe is right up my alley but I found it hard to get fully immersed in the story, there's a lot of nothing happening for most of the book tbh! Perhaps the sequel will be more intriguing and we'll find out more about the twins father/ the strange goings on of the people in Ballyfrann?
tanyatej's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
sar9306's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5