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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
”You won't be able to herd anyone until you can herd yourself.”
Equal parts philosophy, religion and self-help, this is the tale of George's flock of sheep investigating George's death. Yes, the sheep can talk, but only to other sheep. They still behave like proper sheep: grazing, being nervous of the sheepdog, nibbling a geranium or trying to swipe food foolishly ignored by a human. They have more brain power than humans credit them with, but they can be easily distracted. Miss Maple (what a great name) is reputed to be the best at reasoning, Mopple the Whale is the memory sheep, Zora knows about the Abyss, and Othello was in the circus at one point, so understands humans better than the others.
The sheep must move from things they know for sure (sheep become clouds after death, humans are rather dim, goats are crazy) to figure out what is going on in the human village. They have skewed ideas of what motivates people and a well founded fear of Ham, the butcher. Many of their interpretations are charmingly off kilter.
By the end, the sheep and the reader all know what went on, but the sheep can scarcely believe it. These ovine philosophers think that humans are very odd.
dark
mysterious
slow-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:
Yes
This was a very fun and unique book. Very interesting to read a book from the point of view of sheep! It dragged on a bit in the middle, but it was still a fun mystery novel.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Entertaining murder mystery set in a small Irish town, where an eccentric shepherd is found murdered in his pasture. The sheep decide amongst themselves to figure out who killed him, by watching and listening in on the humans of the village. There are several funny moments when the sheep misunderstand or misinterpret human behaviour or speech and some quite clever lines. A few small threads were never completely resolved by the end (though some had implied endings that you could tell would happen 'off screen'), but overall this was a decent light mystery with a unique and funny point of view from the varied cast of flock members, including Miss Maple, the smartest sheep in town, Othello, the one-time circus ram, and Mopple, the sheep with the best memory, among others.
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I am on the fence here.
The sheep characters are charming, and I enjoyed reading about them. But if I rate it as a mystery, I didn’t enjoy the book this way. It drags sometimes, felt underwhelming, could be shorter without loosing anything.
The sheep characters are charming, and I enjoyed reading about them. But if I rate it as a mystery, I didn’t enjoy the book this way. It drags sometimes, felt underwhelming, could be shorter without loosing anything.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
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:
Yes
A question of woolpower, like everything in a sheep’s life.
I'm sheeping Othello and Zora 🐏💝
Recommended by the great Prairie Lights so I took a step outside my usual genre comfort zones to give mystery a try... didn't work out for me. I loved the premise but was bored by the actual book and returned it to the library rather than torture myself into finishing it. Stopped at page 111. More blaaaaah than baaaah.
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No