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libt11's review
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcoholism, and Alcohol
Moderate: Death, Child abuse, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, and Kidnapping
queergoth_reads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Honestly, I felt this book was a little flat. I was really looking forward to this and in the end it didn't do much for me. I felt like all the interesting things were happening without the main characters ever actually being all that involved. There was a lot of scope to make this a chilling supernatural thriller but it didn't quite get there.
<Spoiler> I also found the part where a teenager calls a ten year old a lesbian as an insulating hugely off putting. I know it's not uncommon for that to happen but it felt so out of place and made me quite uncomfortable. </Spoiler>
<Spoiler> I also found the part where a teenager calls a ten year old a lesbian as an insulating hugely off putting. I know it's not uncommon for that to happen but it felt so out of place and made me quite uncomfortable. </Spoiler>
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Grief, Alcoholism, and Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse, Animal death, Alcohol, and Murder
Minor: Homophobia and Lesbophobia
mercurialbooks's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This was disappointing because it was sold as "spine-chilling".
It is a slightly haunting tale where the cold weather and Scottish pine woodland are atmospheric and beautiful. Unfortunately the characters do not live up to the same level of description and I didn't find myself warming to them. A father and daughter are the subjects of village gossip after the mother went missing ten years ago. The father has not thrived in that decade, he is struggling. The daughter it seems has mostly raised herself.
There is an exciting event written on the back of the book that a reader might anticipate happens quite quickly and make this book a thriller, as it was marketed. It doesn't actually occur till around the last 100 pages. I feel removing this from the blurb in any future additions might help the pace feel more natural.
It is a slightly haunting tale where the cold weather and Scottish pine woodland are atmospheric and beautiful. Unfortunately the characters do not live up to the same level of description and I didn't find myself warming to them. A father and daughter are the subjects of village gossip after the mother went missing ten years ago. The father has not thrived in that decade, he is struggling. The daughter it seems has mostly raised herself.
There is an exciting event written on the back of the book that a reader might anticipate happens quite quickly and make this book a thriller, as it was marketed. It doesn't actually occur till around the last 100 pages. I feel removing this from the blurb in any future additions might help the pace feel more natural.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Alcoholism, and Death of parent
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Confinement
fdallachy's review
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Trying to be objective, this is a well-written book. It's atmospheric and it succeeds in building a sense of dread as it goes along. It does trade a little bit in Scottish stereotypes but, depressingly, most of them feel fairly accurate so this isn't exactly a flaw.
More subjectively, I don't like books about neglected or abused children, so this was never going to gel with me. I also have a fairly low tolerance for New Age spiritualism, which means the spooky happenings occasionally felt silly to me rather than suspenseful. When dealing with those drawbacks, what's left isn't original or interesting enough to have kept me engaged.
Overall, then, I think it's a good book that others would enjoy, I just didn't myself.
More subjectively, I don't like books about neglected or abused children, so this was never going to gel with me. I also have a fairly low tolerance for New Age spiritualism, which means the spooky happenings occasionally felt silly to me rather than suspenseful. When dealing with those drawbacks, what's left isn't original or interesting enough to have kept me engaged.
Overall, then, I think it's a good book that others would enjoy, I just didn't myself.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism and Kidnapping
Minor: Child abuse
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