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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
A postman in a rural Irish village finds the dead body of an older lady in a house along his route. Then, the police discover other bodies: young women, her nieces, who have been poisoned and chained up inside the house. Then the book within a book begins, as the story of what led the aunt and nieces to die together in this house is revealed. Within that story is another story, of a man who is transformed into a wolf. Gothic and dark, not quite a mystery.
Odd...this book started out fantastic with interesting characters and then began to get bogged down in some confusing fantasy aspects and outlandish character traits.
I received the book as an advanced reader copy through Library Thing and had requested it because it looked like something I would enjoy.
The book begins when it is discovered that a woman has been murdered in her home in the town of Malahide, but the mystery thickens as her two emaciated nieces are found upstairs. Later a bored postal clerk finds the diary of one of the girls in the dead letter box and sets out by himself to solve the mystery of the girl’s death and trace the footsteps of Jim, a storyteller.
I found that I could not put this book down, in spite of the gruesome nature of some of it. The whole book read like a fairy tale. I found that some of it was unbelievable, but because it felt like it had this whole fairy tale thing going on , I was able to suspend my disbelief.
The characters are all compelling and three dimensional, even though they could be read as stereotypical it didn’t bother me. The only thing that really bugged me is that I was not sure how to pronounce some of the words and names, especially Aiofe, one of the sisters in the book. Hopefully, the publishers will include a pronunciation guide in the final version of the book.
I would recommend this book highly to anyone who likes good, old fashioned storytelling with fairy tale aspects.
The book begins when it is discovered that a woman has been murdered in her home in the town of Malahide, but the mystery thickens as her two emaciated nieces are found upstairs. Later a bored postal clerk finds the diary of one of the girls in the dead letter box and sets out by himself to solve the mystery of the girl’s death and trace the footsteps of Jim, a storyteller.
I found that I could not put this book down, in spite of the gruesome nature of some of it. The whole book read like a fairy tale. I found that some of it was unbelievable, but because it felt like it had this whole fairy tale thing going on , I was able to suspend my disbelief.
The characters are all compelling and three dimensional, even though they could be read as stereotypical it didn’t bother me. The only thing that really bugged me is that I was not sure how to pronounce some of the words and names, especially Aiofe, one of the sisters in the book. Hopefully, the publishers will include a pronunciation guide in the final version of the book.
I would recommend this book highly to anyone who likes good, old fashioned storytelling with fairy tale aspects.
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book bothered me in little ways. The overall story was great--I was compulsed to keep reading, wanting to see the reveal.
But....(spoilers ahoy) the entire conceit of it required some serious suspension of disbelief. You have two women locked in a room, poisioned, half starved, bent on murder, borderline insane...and they are going to write to non overlapping accounts that hand off at just the right spot, write in a fairly flowerly manner (describing small details, long sentence structure) including a detailed account of the story teller's stories? REALLY? (And where did they get the books anyway? And the pens?)
And Aoife's reason for being away? Completely predictable. The only bizarre thing is that it would necessarily last 3 years.
The story itself, although ostensibly about "strong women", is really a male power fantasy. Oh really, a male writer telling a story about a male story teller whose stories compel women to do his bidding, to hard core fan girl, to NEED to sleep with him? *rolls eyes* And of course, the women can only live on through Niall, even though Aoife AND HER DAUGHTER are both alive. And naturally the one woman who can resist the story teller's charms is a lesbian...So many obvious, stereotypical, tropes...
But....(spoilers ahoy) the entire conceit of it required some serious suspension of disbelief. You have two women locked in a room, poisioned, half starved, bent on murder, borderline insane...and they are going to write to non overlapping accounts that hand off at just the right spot, write in a fairly flowerly manner (describing small details, long sentence structure) including a detailed account of the story teller's stories? REALLY? (And where did they get the books anyway? And the pens?)
And Aoife's reason for being away? Completely predictable. The only bizarre thing is that it would necessarily last 3 years.
The story itself, although ostensibly about "strong women", is really a male power fantasy. Oh really, a male writer telling a story about a male story teller whose stories compel women to do his bidding, to hard core fan girl, to NEED to sleep with him? *rolls eyes* And of course, the women can only live on through Niall, even though Aoife AND HER DAUGHTER are both alive. And naturally the one woman who can resist the story teller's charms is a lesbian...So many obvious, stereotypical, tropes...
A história começa com a descoberta dos cadáveres das irmãs Walsh e da sua tia. A história é contada por elas, através de diários que escreveram durante o seu cativeiro e que foram parar às mãos de Niall, um carteiro. A morte delas deve-se a Jim, um conquistador de mulheres que as enfeitiçava, qualquer que fosse a sua idade.
Um livro que se lê muito bem e que nos prende bastante!
Um livro que se lê muito bem e que nos prende bastante!
Extremely different plot than anything I have ever read.
The storyline intrigued me and the book started off well-enough, but the denouement was lackluster and so predictable as to be dull. There are two facets of the ending that I believe are intended to be twists. Without giving away any plot points I just want to say that the first "twist" was just plain pointless and the second garnered such little page time that it couldn't make up for the predictability of what preceded it.
My main issue with the book was that the entire story revolved around the plot device of a drifter/storyteller who is so handsome and charming that women of all ages simply lose their common sense and follow after him like dogs in heat. His charm and charisma are such that women eagerly turn a blind eye to stories of his darker side, and are quick to betray and dismiss friends and family members if it means they will be graced with his presence and attention. Blech!
I'm not quite sure how this book came to be on my "To Read" shelf; my best guess is that it was recommended on Goodreads or Amazon based on my reviews of Tana French and, as I mentioned before, the synopsis was intriguing. If you find yourself with a similar recommendation I would suggest you pass on this novel as it does not compare favorably to French.
My main issue with the book was that the entire story revolved around the plot device of a drifter/storyteller who is so handsome and charming that women of all ages simply lose their common sense and follow after him like dogs in heat. His charm and charisma are such that women eagerly turn a blind eye to stories of his darker side, and are quick to betray and dismiss friends and family members if it means they will be graced with his presence and attention. Blech!
I'm not quite sure how this book came to be on my "To Read" shelf; my best guess is that it was recommended on Goodreads or Amazon based on my reviews of Tana French and, as I mentioned before, the synopsis was intriguing. If you find yourself with a similar recommendation I would suggest you pass on this novel as it does not compare favorably to French.
A gloriously creepy Irish murder and ghost story. Perfect for listening to on a gloomy rainy weekend.
Ooh, this one started good! It got a little weak in the middle, but still pretty fun read about three sisters who get involved with a dangerously charming man.