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leni_paul's review against another edition
3.0
Call me whatever you want, but these days I only finish a book if its compelling, I only read every page if its exciting me in some way...and I can't explain why, but I read every page of this story! And it did not meet that criteria.
I'm baffled by some of the reviews on this book. The book was uneven. It was slow. The plot was swamped by the setting and enormous cast of characters.
Perhaps the setting, the characters and the premise promised so much that I kept reading, waiting for something to happen. There is a real lack of suspense throughout yet I kept reading.
And as another reviewer says, it was hard to care for any of the characters. Keiran is so boring. His back story is a lad's tale of no interest to me. The other guys all blurred a little for me. I wanted Ash to have buried someone in the garden. Please...or do the snotty author in. The baby might as well have not existed, all it did was get put in a carrier, fed and carried around, it had no personality. Demented Brian is a fizzler...Keiran's mother was a really interesting person up until the scene of forgiveness which just felt rushed and unbelievable...in fact it stands out for me as almost destroying the otherwise, really believable world created.
I love slow unfolding stories and this almost works. I think someone like Sally Rooney gets the balance of suspense and slow story telling a little better.
Thank you to the author for your hard work in bringing us a portrait of a small Australian town. I'm glad so many reviewers have thoroughly enjoyed the book. It was a worthwhile read.
I'm baffled by some of the reviews on this book. The book was uneven. It was slow. The plot was swamped by the setting and enormous cast of characters.
Perhaps the setting, the characters and the premise promised so much that I kept reading, waiting for something to happen. There is a real lack of suspense throughout yet I kept reading.
And as another reviewer says, it was hard to care for any of the characters. Keiran is so boring. His back story is a lad's tale of no interest to me. The other guys all blurred a little for me. I wanted Ash to have buried someone in the garden. Please...or do the snotty author in. The baby might as well have not existed, all it did was get put in a carrier, fed and carried around, it had no personality. Demented Brian is a fizzler...Keiran's mother was a really interesting person up until the scene of forgiveness which just felt rushed and unbelievable...in fact it stands out for me as almost destroying the otherwise, really believable world created.
I love slow unfolding stories and this almost works. I think someone like Sally Rooney gets the balance of suspense and slow story telling a little better.
Thank you to the author for your hard work in bringing us a portrait of a small Australian town. I'm glad so many reviewers have thoroughly enjoyed the book. It was a worthwhile read.
annie_reads848's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
I wanted to like this more than I did but unfortunately it fell flat. The majority of the characters were irritating (especially Ash). I also didn’t like the ending - it felt like a cop out for Sean and we didn’t get reactions or explanations from other characters. It felt like a lazy ending really. I also feel the relationship between Kieran and his Mum could have been explored more - it felt quite surface level despite there being deep emotional trauma. After saying one simple “sorry” suddenly it was all fixed.
I did like the premise and I was engaged right up until then end trying to figure out who did it (but then it fell flat sadly).
The audiobook version was also confusing at times, it was difficult to tell when flashbacks were happening.
I did like the premise and I was engaged right up until then end trying to figure out who did it (but then it fell flat sadly).
The audiobook version was also confusing at times, it was difficult to tell when flashbacks were happening.
voracious_g's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
3.75
gabriellawalls's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
megaleena79's review against another edition
2.0
It took way too long for me to read this. At some point I stopped reading it and read two other books. I thought I had too much going on to focus on this one. I heard so many good things about it, so I decided to try and finish it. It was very slow, and didn’t pick up until the last 150 pages.
lowkeymisrule's review against another edition
4.0
Sort of a double mystery, but mostly a portrait of a small town and the townies and secrets that get more tangled with each generation.