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scarlet_v's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This book was definitely a slow starter, but I'm glad I stuck with it. I listened to the audiobook, so I had a bit of a hard time tracking all of the different points of view in the beginning.
The story was good though, a mystery to the end!
The story was good though, a mystery to the end!
geo81's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
mischievous_monkey's review against another edition
3.0
It took a considerable amount of reading for me to get invested in this story which is unusual for a Clare Ashton book. Once Meg came on the scene I perked right up. Vivacious, loving, and loyal, Meg is the kind of friend I enjoy most. She helped Beth find her footing and start to hold her head up again and was fun while doing so. Unfortunately, and strangely, she fades out of the story and while the other characters were all interesting in their own right they lacked the spark of hope and decency Meg provided. I needed a little more of that to balance out the darker struggles of the characters. Obviously, that is a personal quirk of mine. The mystery was a good one and unfolded nicely along the way. The atmosphere was dark and reflected the struggles of the characters. As always, the language of the book is gorgeous and I highlighted and reread several passages along the way for their sheer beauty.
I'm glad I read the book but I probably won't reread this one.
I'm glad I read the book but I probably won't reread this one.
aliu6's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars
This was a really riveting read and I finished it all in one night. I love Clare Ashton's storytelling abilities, and she's great at giving you a story piece by piece until things finally click together in the end. That especially lends itself to the mystery genre, like here. I also appreciated how the story addressed issues of sexism and homophobia, and power dynamics in general, so head on.
Note: It was hard to review this without at least spoiling some things. So while I didn't give away anything major, there might be small spoilers throughout this.
---The Breakdown---
Bethan Griffiths moves back to the town of Foel where she grew up, her young daughter in tow. Foel hasn't changed much, and neither have the people; those in charge back then are still in charge now. But soon, something starts to shake up the stability of the small town. There's a tell tale who has been leaving notes for townspeople—notes sharing people's darkest secrets—and it turns out that a lot is hidden beneath the surface in Foel.
cw: murder, physical abuse, verbal abuse, child abuse, substance abuse, sexual harassment, heavy themes of homophobia and sexism throughout the novel, transphobia, vulgar language about women, victim-shaming
The Characters: The POVs alternate between various townspeople: Beth Griffiths, Lady Sophie Melling, Geraint Thomas, and Rhian Thomas. Beth is kind and a little meek, but she recognizes the problematic things in the town that others ignore. She's described as very reliable and constant. Sophie is harsher and more cynical, withdrawing from the town that dislikes her. Geraint is pretty rough around the edges, but he does his best to gain his parents' approval. Unfortunately, he seems stuck in the shadow of his older brother, Alwyn. Rhian has been in a sort of stupor ever since her son Alwyn ran away, but soon the happenings in the town force her to wake up. I appreciated the complexity of the women in the story (I don't expect any less from Clare Ashton). While there wasn't a character that really stood out and captured my heart, I think I ended up liking the characters I was supposed to like and hating the ones I was supposed to hate.
The Romance: The romance is a fairly minor subplot, making room for the mystery. However, we do get some romance set in the past, when the women were all girls in the same class. They were varied: sweet, all-consuming, innocent, passionate. The romance in the present is more vague, and we don't even get a clear picture of the HEA. This isn't a book you'd read for the love story.
The Plot:
The plot centered around the mystery of the notes, which linked to events from 20 years ago. We get occasional flashbacks to the past that help us puzzle together an idea of what is going on. Very engaging (and also spooky) plot. Besides the mystery, the book also addresses the culture of sexism and corruption of authority figures in the town in a really powerful way.
The Writing:
Lovely! I've said this about Clare Ashton's writing before: it kind of reads like a book I might be assigned in English class, but I find that I enjoy the more formal style of writing, and it flowed so well.
All in all, would recommend if you enjoy mysteries and women and queer people claiming their power. It's also on Kindle Unlimited!
This was a really riveting read and I finished it all in one night. I love Clare Ashton's storytelling abilities, and she's great at giving you a story piece by piece until things finally click together in the end. That especially lends itself to the mystery genre, like here. I also appreciated how the story addressed issues of sexism and homophobia, and power dynamics in general, so head on.
Note: It was hard to review this without at least spoiling some things. So while I didn't give away anything major, there might be small spoilers throughout this.
---The Breakdown---
Bethan Griffiths moves back to the town of Foel where she grew up, her young daughter in tow. Foel hasn't changed much, and neither have the people; those in charge back then are still in charge now. But soon, something starts to shake up the stability of the small town. There's a tell tale who has been leaving notes for townspeople—notes sharing people's darkest secrets—and it turns out that a lot is hidden beneath the surface in Foel.
cw: murder, physical abuse, verbal abuse, child abuse, substance abuse, sexual harassment, heavy themes of homophobia and sexism throughout the novel, transphobia, vulgar language about women, victim-shaming
The Characters: The POVs alternate between various townspeople: Beth Griffiths, Lady Sophie Melling, Geraint Thomas, and Rhian Thomas. Beth is kind and a little meek, but she recognizes the problematic things in the town that others ignore. She's described as very reliable and constant. Sophie is harsher and more cynical, withdrawing from the town that dislikes her. Geraint is pretty rough around the edges, but he does his best to gain his parents' approval. Unfortunately, he seems stuck in the shadow of his older brother, Alwyn. Rhian has been in a sort of stupor ever since her son Alwyn ran away, but soon the happenings in the town force her to wake up. I appreciated the complexity of the women in the story (I don't expect any less from Clare Ashton). While there wasn't a character that really stood out and captured my heart, I think I ended up liking the characters I was supposed to like and hating the ones I was supposed to hate.
The Romance: The romance is a fairly minor subplot, making room for the mystery. However, we do get some romance set in the past, when the women were all girls in the same class. They were varied: sweet, all-consuming, innocent, passionate. The romance in the present is more vague, and we don't even get a clear picture of the HEA. This isn't a book you'd read for the love story.
The Plot:
The plot centered around the mystery of the notes, which linked to events from 20 years ago. We get occasional flashbacks to the past that help us puzzle together an idea of what is going on. Very engaging (and also spooky) plot. Besides the mystery, the book also addresses the culture of sexism and corruption of authority figures in the town in a really powerful way.
The Writing:
Lovely! I've said this about Clare Ashton's writing before: it kind of reads like a book I might be assigned in English class, but I find that I enjoy the more formal style of writing, and it flowed so well.
All in all, would recommend if you enjoy mysteries and women and queer people claiming their power. It's also on Kindle Unlimited!
misthios_pat's review against another edition
5.0
If you like being bamboozled Clare Ashton is your go to author, never a predictable plot. Oh man, she delivers it every time!
What a freaking roller-coaster of emotions! Anxiety, happiness [eh], all stages of mourning, angst, rage, whatever other feelings I could come up at the wee hours of the night choosing to read the book in one sitting, so at 3am this morning, when I was about 50% [that necklace scene], I was part tears part snot sobbing like a fool. So honestly go for it! it's a page turner as always with Clare Ashton and the plus is on KU!
Ah, the only reason this wasn't a 5 for me is because of the ending. I'm a petulant, entitled, resentful suck3r for details, meaning: gossip, titbits, I want the dirty, privileged access to more and IMHO a few things were left untold. The whole book was phenomenal, but this got to me.
Now I'm here with puffy eyes and honestly don't know much what else to say. Anyway, I'll just let it be and after simmering for a few days and a full night of sleep I'll revisit and maybe do a more useful review, written and of grade.
Edit: I slept 2 hours and came to the conclusion 5 was better suited, but I'm still feeling the bittersweet aftertaste
What a freaking roller-coaster of emotions! Anxiety, happiness [eh], all stages of mourning, angst, rage, whatever other feelings I could come up at the wee hours of the night choosing to read the book in one sitting, so at 3am this morning, when I was about 50% [that necklace scene], I was part tears part snot sobbing like a fool. So honestly go for it! it's a page turner as always with Clare Ashton and the plus is on KU!
Ah, the only reason this wasn't a 5 for me is because of the ending. I'm a petulant, entitled, resentful suck3r for details, meaning: gossip, titbits, I want the dirty, privileged access to more and IMHO a few things were left untold
Spoiler
such as Meg relationship with Elin since they were close friends or more about the, dare I say, throuple [I do hope this is endgame because the uncertainty got me all on edge the whole reading] or Beth's mum and Nia and idk, you get the jistNow I'm here with puffy eyes and honestly don't know much what else to say. Anyway, I'll just let it be and after simmering for a few days and a full night of sleep I'll revisit and maybe do a more useful review, written and of grade.
Edit: I slept 2 hours and came to the conclusion 5 was better suited, but I'm still feeling the bittersweet aftertaste
hsinjulit's review against another edition
5.0
The Tell Tale is a historical fiction with many awesome queer reps, and it is the quality mystery we need!
The year is 1971 and Beth Griffiths (~38) has returned to the village of Foel with her daughter Nia at the same time people start getting anonymous notes that reveal secrets of their past. Lady Sophie Melling (~38), who recently inherited a manor from her late father Lord Melling, is also back in the village. And the villagers are pointing fingers, desperate to find out who is the tell tale as more and more details about what happened in Foel twenty years ago begins to unveil.
Now, where to begin.
It is almost impossible to talk about any of the characters, their relationships and identities without spoiling something about the story. I can only say that reading The Tell Tale was quite an emotional ride, and the storyline definitely kept me on the edge of my seat.
While it is set in Wales in the 1970s, the story reflects so much of the world today. The many themes of injustice (including queerphobia, misogyny, homelessness, class segregation in social settings, mistreatment of the working class, racism, etc.), of toxic masculinity, of queer representations are spread throughout the scenes. None felt like checking diversity and inclusion boxes but were deeply woven into the storyline. Through the characters’ interactions with each other, we learn about the village of Foel, the characters themselves, and the overall world.
There is a lot of misogyny. And by “a lot” I mean it is literally what the story is based on and set in. Many of the characters are completely repulsive, twisting the truths and people’s words to serve themselves. At many occasions, I could feel my blood boiling and I just wanted to scream. I felt helpless as a reader seeing the scenes unfurl, but I trust that the story is going somewhere and it would not end on a painful note. And the ending was so satisfying!
At first, I had trouble remembering who’s who. But as the story progressed, we get to know all of the characters—the lovely ones and the despicable ones—and deeply feel all their dynamics, their motivations and drives and loves and fears. At no point did the story lull. Throughout the almost-400-page book, the village of Foel came to life and I felt all sorts of emotions—anger, repulsiveness, sadness, softness, and happiness.
And the writing, the warmth of Ashton’s words, the little descriptions in the story, and the flow of the sentences. Ashton writes so well I felt everything taking place around me—the details of a space, the thoughts and feelings of the character; I can see them happening.
I love the queerness of the story, both in the sense of weirdness and the queer characters. I especially appreciate the ace rep and genderqueer rep, and seeing them makes my gay heart so happy! Also, I love that Welsh is incorporated into the dialogues. It infuses so much life to the story and setting.
While a sense of sadness and foreboding permeates through the book, The Tell Tale is a very satisfying mystery that ends on a wholesome note. Queer folks have always existed, and thank you, Ashton, for writing this story for us.
content warnings: misogyny/sexism, discrimination/hate against LGBTQ+ people, hate crime, domestic abuse, gun, hunting, blood, bones, alcohol (recreational & abuse), death, loss of loved one, homelessness, mental illness, trauma, non-consensual drug use, drug withdrawal, injury, violent attack, outing of queer people, cheating (minor character), racism
Buddy read with Gabriella! Check out her review here!
I received a digital review copy from the author and am voluntarily leaving a review.
The year is 1971 and Beth Griffiths (~38) has returned to the village of Foel with her daughter Nia at the same time people start getting anonymous notes that reveal secrets of their past. Lady Sophie Melling (~38), who recently inherited a manor from her late father Lord Melling, is also back in the village. And the villagers are pointing fingers, desperate to find out who is the tell tale as more and more details about what happened in Foel twenty years ago begins to unveil.
Now, where to begin.
It is almost impossible to talk about any of the characters, their relationships and identities without spoiling something about the story. I can only say that reading The Tell Tale was quite an emotional ride, and the storyline definitely kept me on the edge of my seat.
While it is set in Wales in the 1970s, the story reflects so much of the world today. The many themes of injustice (including queerphobia, misogyny, homelessness, class segregation in social settings, mistreatment of the working class, racism, etc.), of toxic masculinity, of queer representations are spread throughout the scenes. None felt like checking diversity and inclusion boxes but were deeply woven into the storyline. Through the characters’ interactions with each other, we learn about the village of Foel, the characters themselves, and the overall world.
There is a lot of misogyny. And by “a lot” I mean it is literally what the story is based on and set in. Many of the characters are completely repulsive, twisting the truths and people’s words to serve themselves. At many occasions, I could feel my blood boiling and I just wanted to scream. I felt helpless as a reader seeing the scenes unfurl, but I trust that the story is going somewhere and it would not end on a painful note. And the ending was so satisfying!
At first, I had trouble remembering who’s who. But as the story progressed, we get to know all of the characters—the lovely ones and the despicable ones—and deeply feel all their dynamics, their motivations and drives and loves and fears. At no point did the story lull. Throughout the almost-400-page book, the village of Foel came to life and I felt all sorts of emotions—anger, repulsiveness, sadness, softness, and happiness.
And the writing, the warmth of Ashton’s words, the little descriptions in the story, and the flow of the sentences. Ashton writes so well I felt everything taking place around me—the details of a space, the thoughts and feelings of the character; I can see them happening.
I love the queerness of the story, both in the sense of weirdness and the queer characters. I especially appreciate the ace rep and genderqueer rep, and seeing them makes my gay heart so happy! Also, I love that Welsh is incorporated into the dialogues. It infuses so much life to the story and setting.
While a sense of sadness and foreboding permeates through the book, The Tell Tale is a very satisfying mystery that ends on a wholesome note. Queer folks have always existed, and thank you, Ashton, for writing this story for us.
content warnings: misogyny/sexism, discrimination/hate against LGBTQ+ people, hate crime, domestic abuse, gun, hunting, blood, bones, alcohol (recreational & abuse), death, loss of loved one, homelessness, mental illness, trauma, non-consensual drug use, drug withdrawal, injury, violent attack, outing of queer people, cheating (minor character), racism
Buddy read with Gabriella! Check out her review here!
I received a digital review copy from the author and am voluntarily leaving a review.
misha_ali's review against another edition
5.0
One day I'll meet a Clare Ashton book I don't enjoy, but it's not today.
I'll admit I was having a hard time getting into this book to start with. The chapters shift from one person's POV to another and I didn't know enough about any of them to really get a hold on anyone and get invested before we switch perspectives again. It's also a deeply uncomfortable read because we have to set the scene and the scene is a village with a great deal of toxicity and manipulation. Essentially anything and everything bad about small-town life is in this book. It's important to persevere, however, because after about 20%, you'll have a stronger hold on the characters, who are complex and deeply flawed, and see some excellent representation, which I won't spoil.
I don't normally care for mysteries but this one was engaging and while I could see some twists coming, others did manage to surprise me.
As with most of Ashton's books that I've read so far, would recommend.
I'll admit I was having a hard time getting into this book to start with. The chapters shift from one person's POV to another and I didn't know enough about any of them to really get a hold on anyone and get invested before we switch perspectives again. It's also a deeply uncomfortable read because we have to set the scene and the scene is a village with a great deal of toxicity and manipulation. Essentially anything and everything bad about small-town life is in this book. It's important to persevere, however, because after about 20%, you'll have a stronger hold on the characters, who are complex and deeply flawed, and see some excellent representation, which I won't spoil.
I don't normally care for mysteries but this one was engaging and while I could see some twists coming, others did manage to surprise me.
As with most of Ashton's books that I've read so far, would recommend.
_kir's review against another edition
5.0
I can't put my finger on exactly why, but this book is a treasure. Unputdownable. Exquisite mystery.
breeezzy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
reginasbread's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0