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katecrackernut's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
doom_inique's review against another edition
5.0
I am giving this five stars for the marked improvement in writing and storytelling. “The Gracekeepers” was an interesting story set in an interesting world, but the writing style was very choppy and the story was oddly constructed. Characters were a little thin and the book focused on characters that I felt really had nothing to do with the narrative.
“The Gloaming” is a haunting little story about a girl, Mara, and her family living in an old house on a strange island. There’s a little bit of everything: romance, mystery, adventure, loss, magic.
I enjoyed the story more than “The Gracekeepers” and found the characters to be more fleshed-out and individual. The whole world is a little less interesting, but the Island is wonderfully imagined. I found the ending to be satisfying.
The magic was both more and less subtle in this book, the relationships more believable, and I enjoyed the continued water/sea/ocean theme from the first book.
“The Gloaming” is a haunting little story about a girl, Mara, and her family living in an old house on a strange island. There’s a little bit of everything: romance, mystery, adventure, loss, magic.
I enjoyed the story more than “The Gracekeepers” and found the characters to be more fleshed-out and individual. The whole world is a little less interesting, but the Island is wonderfully imagined. I found the ending to be satisfying.
The magic was both more and less subtle in this book, the relationships more believable, and I enjoyed the continued water/sea/ocean theme from the first book.
embennet's review against another edition
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
katherinejohn's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-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? Yes
4.0
linzihw's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
georgia_jaycee's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
bumble_abi's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
A family lives in a crumbling house on an island where, at the end of their lives, its inhabitants turn to stone on the clifftops. The sea is a character here, giving and taking away in the same way that the family gives and takes from one another, sometimes beautifully, sometimes catastrophically. Reeling from tragedy, middle child Mara runs into a someone who reminds her of the selkies in her childhood tales, and the story unfolds from there.
The plot here is slow-paced, but the writing has such a current to it that the reader barely notices. I like this kind of magic realism, and I think what Kirsty Logan achieves with it is to create a kind of bold symbolic backdrop to the otherwise reasonably mundane interpersonal conflicts in her story. It has the effect of drawing you more completely into the emotional lives of the characters in a way you probably wouldn't be if this tale were grounded in a more stable reality.
Despite the mythic content, Logan resists fairytale logic (both happy and sad) and instead writes something rounded and complex, and this book feels original for it - I haven't read this story or anything like it before. Yet even with this more restrained drama, there were still two moments in the final resolution which had me in tears. A beautiful, small story told with great attention.
Oh yeah, and it's really really gay.
The plot here is slow-paced, but the writing has such a current to it that the reader barely notices. I like this kind of magic realism, and I think what Kirsty Logan achieves with it is to create a kind of bold symbolic backdrop to the otherwise reasonably mundane interpersonal conflicts in her story. It has the effect of drawing you more completely into the emotional lives of the characters in a way you probably wouldn't be if this tale were grounded in a more stable reality.
Despite the mythic content, Logan resists fairytale logic (both happy and sad) and instead writes something rounded and complex, and this book feels original for it - I haven't read this story or anything like it before. Yet even with this more restrained drama, there were still two moments in the final resolution which had me in tears. A beautiful, small story told with great attention.
Oh yeah, and it's really really gay.
missbookiverse's review against another edition
4.0
Zu meiner großen Überraschung konnte The Gloaming mich nicht so von den Füßen reißen wie es alle Kirsty Logan Bücher vor ihm getan haben. Ich will es gar nicht wirklich auf’s Buch schieben, das war nämlich eigentlich sehr typisch Logan, vielleicht lag es einfach an mir, dass mich weder die Themen noch die Figuren so richtig angesprochen haben und mir daher sogar ab und zu ein bisschen langweilig war.
Dabei ist die Inselatmosphäre so wirkungsvoll geschildert: nass und windig und mit rauem Meeresklima, aber auch mit magischen kleinen Überraschungen. Es gibt sogar Verweise auf andere Geschichten der Autorin. Ich mochte es, mehr über die Beziehung der Eltern zu lernen, v.a. über Signes Balletthintergrund, aber Mara als Protagonistin blieb mir zu blass.
Erst gegen Ende, als ihre Liebesbeziehung richtig ins Wanken gerät, war ich plötzlich beunruhigt und berührt. Denn da werden Beziehungskonflikte geschildert, die sowohl traurig als auch echt sind. Beziehungen sind nicht immer einfach, auch wenn beide sich lieben. Manchmal sieht oder hört der eine Part Dinge, die der andere gar nicht so gemeint hat und dann geht es nicht mehr darum, wer Schuld hat, sondern wie es nun weitergeht.
Ich bleibe der Autorin natürlich trotzdem treu und hoffe, dass ihr nächstes Buch ein paar neue Motive und Themengebiete erschließt. Vielleicht werde ich dann auch wieder mit allen Figuren warm.
Dabei ist die Inselatmosphäre so wirkungsvoll geschildert: nass und windig und mit rauem Meeresklima, aber auch mit magischen kleinen Überraschungen. Es gibt sogar Verweise auf andere Geschichten der Autorin. Ich mochte es, mehr über die Beziehung der Eltern zu lernen, v.a. über Signes Balletthintergrund, aber Mara als Protagonistin blieb mir zu blass.
Erst gegen Ende, als ihre Liebesbeziehung richtig ins Wanken gerät, war ich plötzlich beunruhigt und berührt. Denn da werden Beziehungskonflikte geschildert, die sowohl traurig als auch echt sind. Beziehungen sind nicht immer einfach, auch wenn beide sich lieben. Manchmal sieht oder hört der eine Part Dinge, die der andere gar nicht so gemeint hat und dann geht es nicht mehr darum, wer Schuld hat, sondern wie es nun weitergeht.
Ich bleibe der Autorin natürlich trotzdem treu und hoffe, dass ihr nächstes Buch ein paar neue Motive und Themengebiete erschließt. Vielleicht werde ich dann auch wieder mit allen Figuren warm.