Reviews

Rounding up from 3.5: This book is like Little Women with a gothic dark twist. Even with the sinister tragedy I enjoyed it, but one thing that I didn’t love was how the spooky part was a bit too unbelievable to make it that much more convincing.

I won’t spoil it so this likely will only make sense with the context of having read it: I appreciated the author using that unbelievability as a device to highlight how often women are written off, but I personally
think it still could’ve been accomplished with tragic coincidences that when one believed in the connection between them could be perceived as superstition.

kerianne17's review against another edition

Go to review page

2.0

this book is SO unnecessarily long. It reads as if it is one long diary entry, down to the mundane details of what Iris ate...nearly every day. The concept is great, but for how overwhelmingly positive the praise for the book is on Goodreads I expected the best "horror" story possible. It just felt so empty and meaningless.

theboldbookworm's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

The Cherry Robbers is a hauntingly beautiful story about the Chapel family. The Chapels are best known for Chapel firearms which is where their family fortune comes from.

The story starts in 2017 when Sylvia Wren, a famous reclusive artist gets a letter from a journalist who claims to know that is actually Iris Chapel. Sylvia (Iris) begins the story of her life at The Wedding Cake, her family home. From there, the story of the Chapels in 1950s Connecticut begins.

"This is jagged, could cut deep wound. It isn't a story I can tell with a thread and a needle, stitching in clean lines. It's shards or nothing."

The Chapel sisters Aster, Rosalind, Calla, Daphne, Iris, and Hazel grow up with distant parents and a mother who sees the ghosts of the victims of Chapel firearms and is convinced something terrible is going to happen to her daughters once Rosalind gets engaged. No one believes Belinda, but shortly after tragedy does begin to visit the family. I don't want to say too much about the meat of the story because I don't want to spoil it.

This book kept me engaged the entire time. The writing is so poetic and beautiful and this is a very unique story. It deals with themes of death, feminism, and the expectations of women in that time period. It was heartbreaking and I found myself crying many times. Walker wrote the sisters so vividly and realistically that I felt as if I actually knew them, especially Iris. This would be a wonderful book for a book club discussion as there are so many things worth talking about in these pages. I have so many quotes flagged and I can't wait to discuss this one with others. This is one the best books I've read so far in 2022. I would definitely recommend this one to anyone who likes historical fiction with a bit of a twist.

kristiforkinglovesbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

jillaay_h's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

novelvisits's review against another edition

Go to review page

2.0

Thanks to @houghtonmifflinharcourt for a #gifted ARC of #thecherryrobbers.⁣

I’m usually good about calling it quits when I’m reading a book that’s not working for me. I’m a firm believer that there’s no reason to keep going with a book you’re not enjoying, and still I read all of

More...