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rballenger's review against another edition
3.0
Type of read: Commuter Read.
What made me pick it up: I think the cover art originally got me and then the description truly sucked me in. Also, not going to lie, I really liked the idea of a shorter read.
Overall rating: Not a bad, quick little read. Definitely wasn't expecting some of the content or the ending but I liked this book overall.
Reader's Note: 'Ghost Wall' includes themes of physical and mental abuse, human sacrifice, and cult thought processes.
What made me pick it up: I think the cover art originally got me and then the description truly sucked me in. Also, not going to lie, I really liked the idea of a shorter read.
Overall rating: Not a bad, quick little read. Definitely wasn't expecting some of the content or the ending but I liked this book overall.
Reader's Note: 'Ghost Wall' includes themes of physical and mental abuse, human sacrifice, and cult thought processes.
literaryleftie's review
5.0
I went back and forth between 4 and 5 stars, but the ending kept me at 5, and the fact that I would most definitely read this book again. My heart completely broke for Sylvie and the things that she had to go through because of the unhappiness of her father. There are some people who definitely do not deserve to be parents. I do not for a second believe that the sacrifice was ever going to just be a test. There is something in that man's head that isn't right. The ending was the most captivating part of this book. I truly believed that it would have gone all the way had Molly not gotten the police.
charli_d's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
anpu325's review
5.0
The best work of fiction related to archaeology that I have ever read. It engages with what archaeology, in this case experimental archaeology, aims to do which is to understand the past as well as the inherent impossibility of ever accomplishing this. The author brings in issues of class, gender, and race in a masterful way. How does the way in which we envision an ideal past connect to racism in the present? How are issues of gender implicated in how we want to imagine the past? The male characters assume society was sexist in the ancient past and try to force the female characters to behave according to their wishes using this as an excuse. Really, they use a kind of imagined, idealized past to justify their own modern sexism. Moss also considers how class intersects with archaeology. Who gets to study the past? The wealthy and the educated, who take the exclusion of working class people from the field as a matter of course. This profound examination of archaeology as a field and how modern biases shape the reconstruction of the past made this a 5-star read for me. But even beyond that, the prose was so beautiful. The descriptions of nature resonated with me. And the way that, in spite of all the issues mentioned above, the protagonist still finds moving points of resonance with people who lived in the past. For me, that is what archaeology is all about. We need to recognize all of the issues implicit in who gets to do archaeology and how their beliefs and biases shape their work. But, still, the beauty of archaeology is that we can connect with people in the past in profoundly moving and life-changing ways.
k_sanam's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
3.5
carolyn0613's review
4.0
This was an intriguing but disturbing story. Silvie is spending a summer with her parents on an Experiential Archaeology camp with a university group of professor and 4 students. This involves them living as Iron Age humans. It quickly becomes clear that Silvie's dad is an violent and controlling man, giving his wife and daughter physical and emotional abuse. Silvie and her mum are classic cases of abused women and their belief that it is their fault for provoking him is horrific. It's a very thought provoking book and I do recommend it. It's quite short too.
eve81's review
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Sexism, Racism, Gaslighting, Torture, Bullying, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Blood, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, and Classism
mad_hatter's review
2.75
Eerie and haunting. Explores gender norms and familial relationships over the course of centuries. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Lovely imagery of the wild. Sometimes the prose was hard to understand and I had to re-read lines, which broke immersion. I think the concept is fantastic, but the writing didn't always match the strength of those building blocks.