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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
It was okay. Not really my style, and pretty slow at parts. But if you like this kind of book I would recommend it.
There were so many elements of 'Fellside' that appealed to me: A heroine accused of murder, prison politics and an added twist of the supernatural. A whodunnit-prison-drama-ghost-story.
Intriguing...
The reason it was more intriguing is because I read 'Girl with all the Gifts'. This was a zombie novel unlike so many others. A novel that had been thought out and developed wholly, to create a number of unique elements. I was excited to see what Carey would bring to a whodunnit-prison-drama-ghost-story.
Excited but... unsatisfied.
There were so many elements to the plot but I didn't feel that any one really stood out. I actually felt that the overall plot/subplots weren't that bad, but they were let down by a lack of action in the first half of the novel and flat, stereotypical characters. By the second half I was so bored with everything that I started skipping 20 pages at a time, and the biggest issue is that, I could just pick up the plot as though I'd read those pages. That’s how slow it was.
Why did I like 'Girl with all the Gifts'? These weren't your typical zombies. These weren't your typical kids. Everything that you thought was, wasn't. But 'Fellside' was the complete opposite. I expected bent prison guards who slept with prisoners and beat people up, I expected the powerful prisoners who dominated the other women. I expected a dodgy doctor, I expected characters who hated Jess for her 'crime'. Everything was exactly how I would have pictured it, and that isn't want I wanted, I wanted it to be different and unique and surprising…
I loved the idea of Jess as a character, but the reality was, again, lacklustre. I loved that I didn’t really know if I was supposed to like her or not. Drug-user, possible killer… but she was our narrator, so I felt like she deserved my support. But she was just such a flat character! I didn't feel anything from her at all. When she was beaten up? I didn't feel sympathetic or anxious. Nothing. The ending? Didn't care.
The supporting characters were so stereotypical and expected that I felt that they were almost a parody. I just didn't like any of them, or care about any of them.
I just wish that there had been sustained action throughout the whole novel, instead of the slow - very slow - build up to the last half which finally became more plot focused. I wish that it had been supported with better written and more developed characters.
I felt like I'd been given the life sentence having to push through and finish it.
Intriguing...
The reason it was more intriguing is because I read 'Girl with all the Gifts'. This was a zombie novel unlike so many others. A novel that had been thought out and developed wholly, to create a number of unique elements. I was excited to see what Carey would bring to a whodunnit-prison-drama-ghost-story.
Excited but... unsatisfied.
There were so many elements to the plot but I didn't feel that any one really stood out. I actually felt that the overall plot/subplots weren't that bad, but they were let down by a lack of action in the first half of the novel and flat, stereotypical characters. By the second half I was so bored with everything that I started skipping 20 pages at a time, and the biggest issue is that, I could just pick up the plot as though I'd read those pages. That’s how slow it was.
Why did I like 'Girl with all the Gifts'? These weren't your typical zombies. These weren't your typical kids. Everything that you thought was, wasn't. But 'Fellside' was the complete opposite. I expected bent prison guards who slept with prisoners and beat people up, I expected the powerful prisoners who dominated the other women. I expected a dodgy doctor, I expected characters who hated Jess for her 'crime'. Everything was exactly how I would have pictured it, and that isn't want I wanted, I wanted it to be different and unique and surprising…
I loved the idea of Jess as a character, but the reality was, again, lacklustre. I loved that I didn’t really know if I was supposed to like her or not. Drug-user, possible killer… but she was our narrator, so I felt like she deserved my support. But she was just such a flat character! I didn't feel anything from her at all. When she was beaten up? I didn't feel sympathetic or anxious. Nothing. The ending? Didn't care.
The supporting characters were so stereotypical and expected that I felt that they were almost a parody. I just didn't like any of them, or care about any of them.
I just wish that there had been sustained action throughout the whole novel, instead of the slow - very slow - build up to the last half which finally became more plot focused. I wish that it had been supported with better written and more developed characters.
I felt like I'd been given the life sentence having to push through and finish it.
Unfortunate DNF. I tried to stay with it but the story itself wasn’t super engaging. Jess Moulson is a drug addict. One day she and her boyfriend are in her apartment an Jess sets the wastebasket on fire which leads to a fire in which a young child (upstairs neighbor) is killed. She is tried and convicted of murder. She seems to feel that she needs to be punished and so she chooses not to appeal. But then after conviction, she decides to go on a hunger strike to kill herself. She is then sent to Fellside and the prison allows her not to eat.
So first thing, I really don’t understand Jess. Why kill yourself after a conviction? Does she feel like it’s her punishment? It didn’t really make sense to me why she chooses to do that. Second, I really didn’t like the prison mafia part of the story. It’s too Orange is the new Black. It’s not funny, but many of the incidents are the same like the prisoner whose hands are beaten for stealing or the inmate having sex with the guard. I just felt like I didn’t know where the story was going and I didn’t care is she started having messages from the kid. The story seemed too all over the place at that point so I just stopped reading. I gave myself a couple days but I didn’t feel motivated to pick it back up again.
So first thing, I really don’t understand Jess. Why kill yourself after a conviction? Does she feel like it’s her punishment? It didn’t really make sense to me why she chooses to do that. Second, I really didn’t like the prison mafia part of the story. It’s too Orange is the new Black. It’s not funny, but many of the incidents are the same like the prisoner whose hands are beaten for stealing or the inmate having sex with the guard. I just felt like I didn’t know where the story was going and I didn’t care is she started having messages from the kid. The story seemed too all over the place at that point so I just stopped reading. I gave myself a couple days but I didn’t feel motivated to pick it back up again.
With a good editor cutting out 1/3 of this book, mostly at the beginning, this would be a really good book. Too much filler though kept it from being really good. But the middle/end was a really good ghost story!
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Not my favorite Carey book, by a long shot. But still a good read.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I would be lying if I said there weren’t a few cheesy or over the top moments throughout this book. But overall I couldn’t put this book down and couldn’t wait to find out what happened next. It has a few twists and turns most remaining a mystery till near the end which was very enjoyable. And I love reading from the different perspectives, not finding myself wanting to rush through any character. It got me out of what felt like the start of a reading slump.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury
slow-paced
I was expecting this to be more spec-fic than it was - I would categorise it more as a crime/prison drama than a ghost story. A prison drama with a dash of ghost. I found some of pacing dragged, and really didn't enjoy the neat wrapping-up-every-thread ending.