Reviews

The Fourth Island by Sarah Tolmie

capnlinnius's review

4.0

This was such a wonderful read, about myths in the making, loss, dealing with death, how to rebuild yourself and your life after experiencing loss and what we leave behind for others to remember us by. I'm not quite sure what I can say without giving the entire novella away. I picked this up because I saw it on the shelf at our store and the cover spoke to me. Reading the synopsis on the back intrigued me, and I was not disappointed.

narratricenessa's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

5.0

eastofreality's review

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

username999's review

mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I think my issue was that while reading this I saw too much of the author in this. Like how she put in sexism and ableism to subvert them later, but then why have them in the first place? And then there was way too much telling. Like yes, I did like this in theory, but I didn't hate this at all, but this wasn't good either which is why it's 3-Stars.

kusine's review

mysterious reflective relaxing slow-paced

3.5

bumblb12's review

1.0

1.5 stars
I really enjoyed all the parts about Nellie and kinda of wish we followed her story from the get go, but I can understand why it wasn't.

The pacing is a bit everywhere. It jumps around too much for my liking and not in a very interesting way. Some of the language used in the novella is a bit uncalled for as well. I thought the story was written in a specific time, but its from 2020. I assume the author wanted to emulate a narrator from the timeline in the book, but it comes off awkwardly and unnecessary.

kathrinpassig's review

3.0

Es fing gut an, ich mag diesen irischen Stil sehr. Leider zerfällt es gegen Ende immer mehr, "und dann geschah dies, und dann geschah das". Aber der Weg zu diesem Ende war angenehm kurz, Gesamtlesezeit vielleicht anderthalb Stunden.

annaavian's review

2.0

This novel included intriguing themes surrounding grief and the insidious effects of depression, but unfortunately they were accompanied by rambling and repetitiveness. The narrative was unstructured, bouncing around too freely and lacking captivating interest. However, I particularly liked the segments dedicated to Nellie and wish we followed her story more.

ashtree11's review

mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.75

kvsreads's review

mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.25