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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
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:
Yes
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
We build our houses with sense and geometry and plough our fields with toil and patience, and all the while, a blink away are the People, dancing and tearing, gifting and stealing, snatching up fury and scattering light, feeding on air. [loc. 48]
In a rural, pre-industrial setting with strong overtones of England, three generations of Smiths are walking through the forest with a friend of the family, Franklin Thorpe. When Franklin accidentally steps off the path, it's Matthew Smith who rescues him from the fairy ring, while Matthew's son John is sent to fetch snails as a gift for the inhabitants of the ring, and Matthew's father Jedediah reproves John for his abstracted air. Truly, John can't help his fascination with the People, also known as the 'kind friends': there's a rumour that he was conceived the same night as his mother Janet had some dealings with the fae. But when John tries to save the mute, wild lad Tobias -- who's liable to be hanged for poaching, and to enable wicked landlord Ephraim Brady to score a point against his tenants -- he overreaches himself.
There's a shuck-like figure called Black Hal (seen seven times a year, brings death to those he hunts) and a disdainful and easily-offended talking cat, not to mention a bramble-bush that's home to an entity who doesn't care for being uprooted: but there are also cruel landlords, iniquitious Lord Robert, and unsteady husbands. And at the heart of the novel is John, whose unique perceptions reveal inconvenient truths and the ways in which they can be remedied. And John is not a lonely outcast, but is surrounded by his family and friends.
I liked this novel very much indeed. John (and, perhaps to a greater extent, Tobias) are affected by the People's influence in ways that reflect neurodivergent behaviour, and that mindset has unexpected benefits when it comes to making deals with, and outmanouevring, the kind friends who live 'a blink away'. Whitfield's prose is calm and measured and occasionally very unnerving through its understatement. ('The verges streamed past him, everything in manic flow, and the sky was clenched, the light squeezing out of it like blood draining from pressed flesh.') There are frequent digressions, old stories, scenes of smithcraft, anecdotes and asides: this is not a book that cuts to the chase. As soon as I'd finished it I bought the next in the series, All the Hollow of the Sky (at full price!), which should indicate my regard for this, the first in a series.
Kit Whitfield writes in her afterword that 'I live among the hidden things, and my normal is very far away from what most people think of when they hear the word ...I didn’t decide to write neurodivergent characters when I began this book. I just wrote characters that appealed to me, and at a certain point noticed what I was doing.' Her son is autistic and ADHD.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I honestly really wanted to like this book, and potentially if you like this kind of historical-y feeling fanatsy fairy setting you might, but i also had a few pretty major issues with it.
First off, it was so slow. Like, incredibly slow. I think this would have been a really thrilling short story, and while i did enjoy the world building and that was very immersive at times, i really think the main meat of the story could have been cut down to about 50-100 pages easily.
The concept was somewhat interesting, but i couldnt get my head around what the actual plot was until I'd basically reached the end, which to me is a pretty major flaw. It wasn't very character driven either, so it just felt a bit drifty most of the way through.
Its really clear the author has lived experience of knowing and loving neurodivergent people, and i liked the authors note at the end - it actually made me appreciate the book more, and i think a reader who knew nothing about autism might gain a lot from reading this. I have two kind of opposing thoughts:
Firstly, the portrayals of both Toby and John felt realistically autistic, if that was what was intended, and they clearly had different experiences of that. The way the entire villiage (minus the Bad Guys) did what they could to protect Toby and that he was clearly loved and treasured was lovely and positive. However, overall i can't get over the fact that being touched by the fey basically equaled being autistic. Yes, some people were impacted by the fey in other ways and didnt show autistic traits, but the correlation between the two for john and toby was SO CLEAR that it just felt a bit icky to me personally. Like, if this was more a thing where the people of this whatever-it-is time period believed these traits were a result of being touched by the fey but that wasnt actually the case then it would be fine because it would just be the way those people were understanding what those characteristics meant, but it literally meant the fey had impacted your like, brain???? It was so close to being good but just missed the vibes for me. Which was a shame!!!
Overall, maybe generally not my jam genre wise, interesting premise, wish it was a bit more succinct and it wasn't a complicated read. Wish i enjoyed it more tbh!!!
First off, it was so slow. Like, incredibly slow. I think this would have been a really thrilling short story, and while i did enjoy the world building and that was very immersive at times, i really think the main meat of the story could have been cut down to about 50-100 pages easily.
The concept was somewhat interesting, but i couldnt get my head around what the actual plot was until I'd basically reached the end, which to me is a pretty major flaw. It wasn't very character driven either, so it just felt a bit drifty most of the way through.
Its really clear the author has lived experience of knowing and loving neurodivergent people, and i liked the authors note at the end - it actually made me appreciate the book more, and i think a reader who knew nothing about autism might gain a lot from reading this. I have two kind of opposing thoughts:
Firstly, the portrayals of both Toby and John felt realistically autistic, if that was what was intended, and they clearly had different experiences of that. The way the entire villiage (minus the Bad Guys) did what they could to protect Toby and that he was clearly loved and treasured was lovely and positive. However, overall i can't get over the fact that being touched by the fey basically equaled being autistic. Yes, some people were impacted by the fey in other ways and didnt show autistic traits, but the correlation between the two for john and toby was SO CLEAR that it just felt a bit icky to me personally. Like, if this was more a thing where the people of this whatever-it-is time period believed these traits were a result of being touched by the fey but that wasnt actually the case then it would be fine because it would just be the way those people were understanding what those characteristics meant, but it literally meant the fey had impacted your like, brain???? It was so close to being good but just missed the vibes for me. Which was a shame!!!
Overall, maybe generally not my jam genre wise, interesting premise, wish it was a bit more succinct and it wasn't a complicated read. Wish i enjoyed it more tbh!!!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gore
Minor: Child abuse, Death of parent, Murder
I originally chose this book based on its title and cover, which is a beautiful tangle of thorns under a moonlit sky. It spoke to me of a story with dark nature elements and a slight magical vibe.
The Heart of Hidden Things is set in a 19th century English village where a family of Smith's are not only responsible for iron works, they also protect their village from the business of the Fae. Where the digging up and moving of what appears to be a blackberry bush has unusual consequences.
I enjoyed the writing style and felt I was reading something that was written in its time-It's reference to people being of simple mind or touched by the Fae to describe those who were different. The descriptions of Gryford created vivid pictures in my imagination, I could see the Smith's riding their horse drawn cart down Chalk Lane.
We meet alot of characters in this book, sometimes more than I thought I needed to read about as at times I struggled to follow what was happening with each character. Some are pleasent, honest folk, while others grotesquely vile to their core. There is a fair amount of world building and character back story which I felt at times deviated from the main story. I would have preferred more direct focus on key characters.
Regardless, of this I did enjoy the read that was steeped in British folklore of fairy rings, tree spirits, talking animals and a deamon black hound.
Trigger warnings
Domestic abuse
Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus Books for allowing me to read an ARC of this title.
The Heart of Hidden Things is set in a 19th century English village where a family of Smith's are not only responsible for iron works, they also protect their village from the business of the Fae. Where the digging up and moving of what appears to be a blackberry bush has unusual consequences.
I enjoyed the writing style and felt I was reading something that was written in its time-It's reference to people being of simple mind or touched by the Fae to describe those who were different. The descriptions of Gryford created vivid pictures in my imagination, I could see the Smith's riding their horse drawn cart down Chalk Lane.
We meet alot of characters in this book, sometimes more than I thought I needed to read about as at times I struggled to follow what was happening with each character. Some are pleasent, honest folk, while others grotesquely vile to their core. There is a fair amount of world building and character back story which I felt at times deviated from the main story. I would have preferred more direct focus on key characters.
Regardless, of this I did enjoy the read that was steeped in British folklore of fairy rings, tree spirits, talking animals and a deamon black hound.
Trigger warnings
Domestic abuse
Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus Books for allowing me to read an ARC of this title.
I appreciated the style of writing and appreciated the references to folklore. This is not fast paced and action packed story, this is a story that talks about people who live in Gyrford in an alternate XIX century.
The author did a lot of work in recreating a simil XIX century language and developed a fascinating a complex world building.
I wasn't a fan of John, a bit too juvenile, but I found the plot entertaining and compelling.
I hope there will be other stories set in this world.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
The author did a lot of work in recreating a simil XIX century language and developed a fascinating a complex world building.
I wasn't a fan of John, a bit too juvenile, but I found the plot entertaining and compelling.
I hope there will be other stories set in this world.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
Another one where I wavered between 3 and 4 stars - yes, that's how things seem to be working for me at the moment - before deciding that it wasn't a book that particularly stood out splitting the difference! Possibly this was also due to the fact I had to have two goes at starting this book, as at one point I read the first couple of chapters, then put it down and when I picked it up again I couldn't remember who anyone was...
This is fantasy set in faux-19th century England, with the fae always ever-present and the role of the local smiths being not just dealing with ironworking but also dealing with the fae and their human encounters. There's also a regular visitation from a large black dog, much like the Black Shuck of the area where I grew up, which plays a significant role in the plot as we go along. The storyline here is particularly focussed on one family of Smiths, three generations with the youngest an adolescent boy, as they're drawn into issues around keeping everyone safe and dealing with the less pleasant members of their (human) community.
There's some solid world-building here and I mostly enjoyed In the Heart of Hidden Things but was left feeling a bit disjointed at the end of it all. Teenage lads as main characters, which this partly is, tend to be a tough sell for me and it felt a bit like the women in the book played decidedly second fiddle roles in comparison. One woman felt as though she was mostly there to demonstrate how bad her husband was, rather than as a character in her own right, for example. Also teenagers in love, not my favourite thing, though at least that was a minor sub-plot and actually used partly for other purposes than just being there for the sake of it.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, via Netgalley. This is my honest review of the book in question.
This is fantasy set in faux-19th century England, with the fae always ever-present and the role of the local smiths being not just dealing with ironworking but also dealing with the fae and their human encounters. There's also a regular visitation from a large black dog, much like the Black Shuck of the area where I grew up, which plays a significant role in the plot as we go along. The storyline here is particularly focussed on one family of Smiths, three generations with the youngest an adolescent boy, as they're drawn into issues around keeping everyone safe and dealing with the less pleasant members of their (human) community.
There's some solid world-building here and I mostly enjoyed In the Heart of Hidden Things but was left feeling a bit disjointed at the end of it all. Teenage lads as main characters, which this partly is, tend to be a tough sell for me and it felt a bit like the women in the book played decidedly second fiddle roles in comparison. One woman felt as though she was mostly there to demonstrate how bad her husband was, rather than as a character in her own right, for example. Also teenagers in love, not my favourite thing, though at least that was a minor sub-plot and actually used partly for other purposes than just being there for the sake of it.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, via Netgalley. This is my honest review of the book in question.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Violence, Blood
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No