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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
DNFed on p. 200 out of 265 (75%)
I don't normally rate books that I don't finish but I'm sooo close to the end idc. I ended up just skimming bc trying to finish this book sent me into a massive reading slump.
I loved Sundial, so I wanted to check out this author's other stuff, but OOF this was hard to get through. The pacing is just brutally slow, and the way it jumps around between past and present was jarring. I kept waiting for the big plot twist to happen and when it finally did, it was SO underwhelming dude oh my gosh. I didn't actually get to it but I skimmed the last like 20 pages just to see and I pretty much guessed that 'twist' from the get go. It's the exact same twist as in another horror book I just read, so maybe I went in with a bias, but Idk man it felt pretty dang predictable to me, ESPECIALLY once Eve carved her eye out. And same deal with the honey, I felt like it was pretty obvious that it was drugged. Maybe it was supposed to be obvious? But then I just felt icky reading about all these poor kids. And yeah, horror as a genre is not supposed to invoke warm fuzzy feelings, but like... this just felt really unoriginal?? And boring.
The book just really dragged on, and almost nothing actually happened. It was unsettling, sure, but not enough to justify reading it. It's just your run of the mill cult horror - man brainwashes children into thinking he's a god, bad things ensue as a result of kids being raised with such a fucked up religion.
I don't normally rate books that I don't finish but I'm sooo close to the end idc. I ended up just skimming bc trying to finish this book sent me into a massive reading slump.
I loved Sundial, so I wanted to check out this author's other stuff, but OOF this was hard to get through. The pacing is just brutally slow, and the way it jumps around between past and present was jarring. I kept waiting for the big plot twist to happen and when it finally did, it was SO underwhelming dude oh my gosh. I didn't actually get to it but I skimmed the last like 20 pages just to see and I pretty much guessed that 'twist' from the get go.
The book just really dragged on, and almost nothing actually happened. It was unsettling, sure, but not enough to justify reading it. It's just your run of the mill cult horror - man brainwashes children into thinking he's a god, bad things ensue as a result of kids being raised with such a fucked up religion.
slow-paced
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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:
Complicated
Hogmanay, 1921, five bodies are discovered ritually sacrificed on a secluded isle near Inverness, separated from the mainland by a tidal causeway. Wanted for the crime is Eve, a young woman embodying the devilish beliefs of the small cult family inhabiting the castle at the isle's peak.
Told in alternating chapters from Eve herself, in the past, and sole survivor Dinah, in the future, this novel unfolds into a gleaming, puzzling thriller - a tale of snake venom and sea gods and whispers, of eyes for eyes and spiteful letters and honey dripped from the fingers of The Adder, their devoted leader.
As I read more of her work, it's becoming increasingly clear what essential elements make up a Catriona Ward novel: a fateful night, a story, or stories told about it, some deep-seated beliefs about mortality and blame, and a final, heartbreaking and intricately wrought reveal. This one didn't disappoint, and actually I think it is the finest and most literary of her novels so far (with the caveat that I haven't read Rawblood). It just shivered off the page, vivid and mysterious. It had the odd pacing issue around the middle, but I absolutely did not figure out the final reveal, the secret scaffolding holding the plot together, until it was fed to me like honey from her hands. I absolutely adore being fooled like this, and it's rare that I have absolutely no inkling of the ride I'm being taken for. Some absolutely stellar horror writing and such an immensely enjoyable book.
Told in alternating chapters from Eve herself, in the past, and sole survivor Dinah, in the future, this novel unfolds into a gleaming, puzzling thriller - a tale of snake venom and sea gods and whispers, of eyes for eyes and spiteful letters and honey dripped from the fingers of The Adder, their devoted leader.
As I read more of her work, it's becoming increasingly clear what essential elements make up a Catriona Ward novel: a fateful night, a story, or stories told about it, some deep-seated beliefs about mortality and blame, and a final, heartbreaking and intricately wrought reveal. This one didn't disappoint, and actually I think it is the finest and most literary of her novels so far (with the caveat that I haven't read Rawblood). It just shivered off the page, vivid and mysterious. It had the odd pacing issue around the middle, but I absolutely did not figure out the final reveal, the secret scaffolding holding the plot together, until it was fed to me like honey from her hands. I absolutely adore being fooled like this, and it's rare that I have absolutely no inkling of the ride I'm being taken for. Some absolutely stellar horror writing and such an immensely enjoyable book.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
oh to be a girl on a secluded isle with a bunch of weirdos who eat honey….
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes