Scan barcode
njh_books's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I was not sure what I was expecting but this was not it. Still, I read it in less than 72 hours soooo was very enticing.
It is for sure not for anyone who is squeamish. It does include a lot of graphic descriptions of violence and body parts/blood and injuries and death.
The different narrators threw me for a bit at first, just since we had "Goody", but really it was (surprise) Arnold as the narrator for the first 240 pages. The intimate friendship between Goody/William and Johnstone was interesting to see from an outside perspective, but also I think one could've not included that section and everything would have still worked/made sense without it. I did enjoy Arnold's section at the end and Goody coming back in to cut him off, though I wish the epilogue was longer because I'd be intersected to see how her life was as Goody again (and with Lily.
I'm glad Lily and Goody got their happy ending, but Lily put Goody through the wringer after Arnold's injury and poor Lily suffering on her wedding day. It was nice to see that she came back to herself or her new self towards the end of the pregnancy/after the birth. The women in this book really get the absolute worst of the lot.
As I said with another book earlier this year (looking at you A Secret History), I could've done without the incest, though one could argue it's not technically incest, but the whole having been raised together as brother and sister did make it a bit incesty...
It is for sure not for anyone who is squeamish. It does include a lot of graphic descriptions of violence and body parts/blood and injuries and death.
I'm glad Lily and Goody got their happy ending, but Lily put Goody through the wringer after Arnold's injury and poor Lily suffering on her wedding day. It was nice to see that she came back to herself or her new self towards the end of the pregnancy/after the birth. The women in this book really get the absolute worst of the lot.
As I said with another book earlier this year (looking at you A Secret History), I could've done without the incest, though one could argue it's not technically incest, but the whole having been raised together as brother and sister did make it a bit incesty...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Gore, Sexual violence, Blood, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, War, Violence, Torture, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Death
Moderate: Racism, Racial slurs, Rape, and Incest
Minor: Child abuse, Abandonment, and Child death
georgie_mb's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Pr Product as part of Canongate’s February readalong
This started out with a really good premise, being a historical thriller about smugglers with a strong yet flawed female lead, however it didn’t grip me as much as I wanted it to.
Somethings were drawn out too long, I didn’t really feel connected to any of the characters or their reasonings. The ending definitely picked up but it wasn’t enough to give it a huge boost in my rating.
I originally had an issue with the opening letter statement about the fact that the author was a man writing a woman’s story as it ended up tainting parts of the storytelling for me, but the ending cleared that up a bit. I do think it was unnecessary and a bit forced.
This started out with a really good premise, being a historical thriller about smugglers with a strong yet flawed female lead, however it didn’t grip me as much as I wanted it to.
Somethings were drawn out too long, I didn’t really feel connected to any of the characters or their reasonings. The ending definitely picked up but it wasn’t enough to give it a huge boost in my rating.
I originally had an issue with the opening letter statement about the fact that the author was a man writing a woman’s story as it ended up tainting parts of the storytelling for me, but the ending cleared that up a bit. I do think it was unnecessary and a bit forced.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Torture, Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Body horror, Colonisation, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Incest, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, and War
More...