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513 reviews for:

Scrublands

Chris Hammer

3.71 AVERAGE


Being generous and giving 3 stars, probably closer to 2 - 2.5. Too many elements, sub storylines, romance element was off - Mandalay was needy and whiney, Martin was just all over the place (hot and heavy, then ready to walk away, then all over her again). A positive, the descriptions of the bush and small town Australia were evocative.
mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Started off good, but lost me. The author tacked on too much to this story. 

amanita_device's review

5.0
dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

I do wish Goodreads would allow half stars. 3.5 stars for Chris Hammer for this excellent depiction of a hot, and dying, Australian town. Loved the parts about the behaviour of the media - so true of current Australian journalism but found the all the sub plots a bit too much at times.
challenging mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated

  • First fiction book I’ve read that was based in Australia
  • Really well written, made me feel like I was there
  • It kept me guessing all the way to the end, really couldn’t put it down. Finished it in 2 days
  • Really enjoyed the complexities behind each character’s story

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
reflective tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

2.5 stars

Not my cup of tea unfortunately. I listened to this on audio and there were a few times I was going to stop but decided to keep going. The writing was meandering and I found myself zoning out many times. Now that I've finished, I've realised I could've skipped to the last couple of the chapters to find out everything. Oh well, You can't love them all.