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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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:
Complicated
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Read as part of BooksandLala's Buzzwordathon.
Content warning: graphic animal abuse and implied child abuse.
It's like a bird in a bloody cage, isn't it, it's fine while it's in the cage but then as soon as you let it out it sees what it's been missing. It sees it wasn't ever meant for this, and its wings don't work after all.
This was one of those books that left me thinking after I had read it, "Well... that was a book." It doesn't do anything particularly wrong (aside from the aforementioned incredibly unnecessary animal abuse), but it doesn't do anything particularly novel, either. This is a book based on a real-life mystery, and a reader can definitely be left with the feeling that the real-life mystery must be the more intriguing of the two stories.
This book has atmosphere for days, and it's beautifully written. The story is really well-plotted (aside from some, again, unnecessary devices - this is not a story that required a vaguely supernatural element), if not particularly well-structured (the 1992 sections remove absolutely all pace). There are twists that will surprise you, but don't come out of nowhere.
In all my years I've realised there are two kinds of people. The ones who hear a creak in a dark, lonely house, and shut the windows because it must’ve been the wind. And the ones who hear a creak in a dark, lonely house, light a candle, and go to take a look.
The real problem is the characters. This is a story where the reader really needs to care about the characters. And, aside from Vince (who is the tragic character I'll fall hook, line, and sinker for every time), I just didn't. These are plodding characters with few redeeming characteristics, carrying out plodding actions. They're all stuck, and nothing about them develops.
SpoilerEmma Stonex also rips all of the tension right out of things by resolving every single mystery she establishes, bar the one unnecessary supernatural element. I was fully prepared to be deliciously frustrated by being left to my own conclusions... and then she just handed over every single uninteresting one.
This is an overall gripping read. But as the work of literature it's very clearly trying to be? It's a 2.5. It's okay. And if you are not not ready to read some pretty horrific animal abuse that arrives with very little lead-up, just remember those 207104023849 times a character referred to "blood and fur" earlier in the book, and run for the hills the first time you see it.
I mean, honestly! I'm sure you'd prefer that, but I’m afraid it's all ridiculous. We're not in your world now, we're in mine; and this isn't a thriller, it's my life.
Content warning: graphic animal abuse and implied child abuse.
It's like a bird in a bloody cage, isn't it, it's fine while it's in the cage but then as soon as you let it out it sees what it's been missing. It sees it wasn't ever meant for this, and its wings don't work after all.
This was one of those books that left me thinking after I had read it, "Well... that was a book." It doesn't do anything particularly wrong (aside from the aforementioned incredibly unnecessary animal abuse), but it doesn't do anything particularly novel, either. This is a book based on a real-life mystery, and a reader can definitely be left with the feeling that the real-life mystery must be the more intriguing of the two stories.
This book has atmosphere for days, and it's beautifully written. The story is really well-plotted (aside from some, again, unnecessary devices - this is not a story that required a vaguely supernatural element), if not particularly well-structured (the 1992 sections remove absolutely all pace). There are twists that will surprise you, but don't come out of nowhere.
In all my years I've realised there are two kinds of people. The ones who hear a creak in a dark, lonely house, and shut the windows because it must’ve been the wind. And the ones who hear a creak in a dark, lonely house, light a candle, and go to take a look.
The real problem is the characters. This is a story where the reader really needs to care about the characters. And, aside from Vince (who is the tragic character I'll fall hook, line, and sinker for every time), I just didn't. These are plodding characters with few redeeming characteristics, carrying out plodding actions. They're all stuck, and nothing about them develops.
SpoilerEmma Stonex also rips all of the tension right out of things by resolving every single mystery she establishes, bar the one unnecessary supernatural element. I was fully prepared to be deliciously frustrated by being left to my own conclusions... and then she just handed over every single uninteresting one.
This is an overall gripping read. But as the work of literature it's very clearly trying to be? It's a 2.5. It's okay. And if you are not not ready to read some pretty horrific animal abuse that arrives with very little lead-up, just remember those 207104023849 times a character referred to "blood and fur" earlier in the book, and run for the hills the first time you see it.
I mean, honestly! I'm sure you'd prefer that, but I’m afraid it's all ridiculous. We're not in your world now, we're in mine; and this isn't a thriller, it's my life.
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really enjoyed reading this book. I liked that she took a real event from the 1900s and wrote her own story of how it played out set in 1972. It was interesting learning about the life of light house keepers and their families.