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kristadollimore's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Give me anything about fairy tales and folklore and I’ll gobble it right up 🖤🖤🖤
I really enjoyed this slow burn folk tale. Erin is such a fun writer. Both of her novels I’ve read have had a gothic feel to them, which is totally my vibe. While it’s not a house I really appreciated the claustrophobic feeling of being trapped within the borders of Amity Falls. This book was structured seasonally, and winter was so brutal.
I enjoyed the slow paced nature of how this story unfolded. How it created more tension for me as the reader. How all of the mundane tasks had a sense of tension, and unease.
I really sat with this theme of “watching”. Of what it means to know that something isn’t right, but allowing it to unfold anyways. What responsibility we individually have to speak up, to take a stand. And how fragile society is. How when people get desperate how quickly everything can fall apart. How quick we are to go with the easiest narrative creating enemies of those we care about because we are scared.
I think the only thing I wish was perhaps explored a little bit more was the magic of the bees. I could totally be projecting my desire for magic and mystery, but I felt like between Ellerie’s mom’s honey cakes, and her dads reverence towards the bees there was just something more than meets the eye. How there was something strange in general about the town itself being cut off from the world. I kept waiting for a cult plot to come to the surface 😂😂.
That being said this book was wonderful, and I can’t wait for Craig’s next novel. 🖤
I really enjoyed this slow burn folk tale. Erin is such a fun writer. Both of her novels I’ve read have had a gothic feel to them, which is totally my vibe. While it’s not a house I really appreciated the claustrophobic feeling of being trapped within the borders of Amity Falls. This book was structured seasonally, and winter was so brutal.
I enjoyed the slow paced nature of how this story unfolded. How it created more tension for me as the reader. How all of the mundane tasks had a sense of tension, and unease.
I really sat with this theme of “watching”. Of what it means to know that something isn’t right, but allowing it to unfold anyways. What responsibility we individually have to speak up, to take a stand. And how fragile society is. How when people get desperate how quickly everything can fall apart. How quick we are to go with the easiest narrative creating enemies of those we care about because we are scared.
I think the only thing I wish was perhaps explored a little bit more was the magic of the bees. I could totally be projecting my desire for magic and mystery, but I felt like between Ellerie’s mom’s honey cakes, and her dads reverence towards the bees there was just something more than meets the eye. How there was something strange in general about the town itself being cut off from the world. I kept waiting for a cult plot to come to the surface 😂😂.
That being said this book was wonderful, and I can’t wait for Craig’s next novel. 🖤
patrissia10's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
swiftiesread's review against another edition
3.75
This was really interesting. I think I went in with the wrong expectations of this book and there were a lot of characters that I didn’t understand how they all related to each other but overall I think this was really good. The plot was super engaging and the main characters were all pretty well developed.
erene068's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Well worth staying with it to the end. Love the twist.
sarahgrace37's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
5.0
kaysbookgallery's review against another edition
It had it's on and offs of being really slow and then pick up a little but then I'd lose interest again. Found Ellerie quite boring.... The story just isn't for me.
mollymoll44's review against another edition
4.75
I docked it .25 just because it unnecessarily drops 20 characters in the first 8 pages to keep track of which was irritating. Past that I absolutely loved it
Came for the fairytale and left knowing a lot about bees
Came for the fairytale and left knowing a lot about bees
livhoney's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5