Reviews

Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay

Only show reviews with written explanations

ella_mcnally's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

4.5

gabbylister's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious 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

3.5

A bit more of a florid style than I'm used to but miss Joan would have slayed GSCE descriptive writing. I listened to the audiobook and found it kinda irritating? But to be fair posh Australian teenagers probably are. Really pretty writing but too many tangential ramblings for me, I wanted to hear about the missing girls and was a little bored by the wedding subplot that seemed a bit out of place when a full on investigation is going on? Still such a cool story and a really interesting read that I wouldn't have picked up if not for a recommendation. The ending is so sick too.

ivyninareads's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

3.5 stars (that's my definitive answer, but I also want to rate it 3 stars and 3.75 stars, so work that one out).

An Australian gothic classic. This book definitely had the spooky vibes that it's been critically acclaimed for. The descriptions of nature were not only detailed but intense and foreboding. It felt as though the Australian landscapes described were murmuring with their years of delicate and deep-rooted knowledge and history. A pounding drumming that the girls describe within the initial chapters of the novel as they climb towards Hanging Rock seems to seep its way under the reader's skin for the rest of the narrative.

So what held this book back from rating better for me? Probably just the fact that although it is an interesting story, it is still quite a simple narrative with not many subplots and the subplots we did have (romantic developments etc.) didn't feel like they exactly fit. But whenever disaster struck in this novel, I was extremely compelled and interested. The ending especially felt like a grand crescendo to the incessant drumming of the novel. Jarring and nauseating in the best way. Also, the ambiguous ending really worked for me. It allowed the pervasive mystery of this novel to continue on past the end of the narrative once I had put the book down.

Can we also just talk about this edition of the book for a quick second? The design is literally gorgeous. Very proud of like, 13 year old me, for picking this up. Although it did mean that I didn't annotate the book like I usually do because I was too scared to ruin it. But like, the colour way, the fact that it's a hardback, the illustrations – BEAUTIFUL!

xxamyvxx's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

megsy13's review against another edition

Go to review page

1.0

This is considered to be an Australian classic... I’m really struggling to see how.

Really dry writing and I found myself getting confused with names, and I felt no affection towards any characters.