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3.29 AVERAGE
3.29 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Too many characters for me to effectively follow, definitely heavy on atmosphere and tension rather than character development. Most thrillers are.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
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
This was an interesting read with a few themes that reminded me of Annihilation, but it didn't have quite the same emotional impact at the end. As other readers mentioned, we're given some answers, and not all. I typically like it when books do that, because it forces you to be alright with ambiguity, but this time I was just left wondering which feelings/thoughts the author was hoping to leave you with at the end.
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Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest opinion!
"The Dark Between the Trees" uses a dual timeline to retrace the path a group of soldiers took in 17th century England before their mysterious disappearance, and the one these contemporary women take in their pursuit of knowledge. Moresby Wood is haunted by stories as much as by history.
I enjoyed the book, but not as much as I thought I would when I was halfway through it. Barnett's writing style is clear and very descriptive, making you feel as if you were there. I really liked the dual POV, following both groups of people as they go deeper into the forest, hearing the legends each brought with them, seeing them come to their own conclusions. I enjoyed the folk tales element playing out. It reminded me of The Blair Witch Project and The Witch.
The beginning might feel a bit slow for some, but I thought it did a good job of leading us into the story. And then things start happening, and you don't want to put this book down! I was super interested in the plot, so I read the first half in a day. The second half was harder to get through. I still wanted to finish it, but it felt slow and a bit repetitive, all the walk in the woods with not much happening.
The horror element was very conceptual and ambiguous. This is tricky to pull off well, and not everybody is a fan of it. I'm not against it per se, but I didn't think it was fully realized here. There's graphic gore and a monster, yes, but the monster isn't really The monster. And that would be fine, if - well, if all the deaths hadn't actually been caused by the monster. So in the end, I just thought, what was the point of everything? There are a lot of loose ends. If you want a clear-cut explanation about everything that happened, you won't find it.
The ending was open-ended and affected by this lack of answers. I actually didn't hate it; I love that kind of endings, but I still wish what came before it had provided some more answers, a clearer insight into what had really happened to everyone, and why.
I would recommend this to readers looking for haunted forest stories, and I'm looking forward to Barnett's next works!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest opinion!
"The Dark Between the Trees" uses a dual timeline to retrace the path a group of soldiers took in 17th century England before their mysterious disappearance, and the one these contemporary women take in their pursuit of knowledge. Moresby Wood is haunted by stories as much as by history.
I enjoyed the book, but not as much as I thought I would when I was halfway through it. Barnett's writing style is clear and very descriptive, making you feel as if you were there. I really liked the dual POV, following both groups of people as they go deeper into the forest, hearing the legends each brought with them, seeing them come to their own conclusions. I enjoyed the folk tales element playing out. It reminded me of The Blair Witch Project and The Witch.
The beginning might feel a bit slow for some, but I thought it did a good job of leading us into the story. And then things start happening, and you don't want to put this book down! I was super interested in the plot, so I read the first half in a day. The second half was harder to get through. I still wanted to finish it, but it felt slow and a bit repetitive, all the walk in the woods with not much happening.
The horror element was very conceptual and ambiguous. This is tricky to pull off well, and not everybody is a fan of it. I'm not against it per se, but I didn't think it was fully realized here. There's graphic gore and a monster, yes, but the monster isn't really The monster. And that would be fine, if - well, if all the deaths hadn't actually been caused by the monster. So in the end, I just thought, what was the point of everything? There are a lot of loose ends. If you want a clear-cut explanation about everything that happened, you won't find it.
The ending was open-ended and affected by this lack of answers. I actually didn't hate it; I love that kind of endings, but I still wish what came before it had provided some more answers, a clearer insight into what had really happened to everyone, and why.
I would recommend this to readers looking for haunted forest stories, and I'm looking forward to Barnett's next works!
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
I bought this book because the cover was so beautiful…big mistake. The ideas were so interesting & different, but the writing was painfully slow and there were way too many characters. The conclusion left a lot to be desired.
I just finished The dark between the trees by Fiona Barnett
A group of 17th century soldiers end up going into Moresby wood after being ambushed… A place teeming with witchcraft… A place the devil likes to walk.
17 men go in and none come out….
Present day and 5 women go into the woods to see if they can unveil the secrets the woods hold. They are armed with the latest tech and maps, they are ready for anything.
The problem is, they have no idea what they have just walked into.
Did that give you chills? It should have because the whole book has an undercurrent of creepiness that would set the devil himself at ill ease.
Firstly this book is more literary fiction than horror so bear that in mind before you crack it open. I loved the writing. Some serious talent went into these pages and each page delivered the kind of entertainment a serious reader needs.
The plot was fantastic, I actually quite enjoyed the 2 timelines and really felt it bought the whole thing together. Not much in the way of character development for me, but I find that horror reads don’t need that so much. The descriptions of the woods and whole vibe in general really hit the high notes for me.
Don’t get looking for an explanation of the supernatural because you won’t get one. That would usually bother me but as I read this from a literary perspective instead of horror, it worked really well to give the ambience of the unknown.
This book is rock solid so if you are a literary fiction fan who loves a dash of horror then this book is a winner!
4.5 stars!
Thank you #netgalley and #rebellion for my review copy! I thoroughly enjoyed it
A group of 17th century soldiers end up going into Moresby wood after being ambushed… A place teeming with witchcraft… A place the devil likes to walk.
17 men go in and none come out….
Present day and 5 women go into the woods to see if they can unveil the secrets the woods hold. They are armed with the latest tech and maps, they are ready for anything.
The problem is, they have no idea what they have just walked into.
Did that give you chills? It should have because the whole book has an undercurrent of creepiness that would set the devil himself at ill ease.
Firstly this book is more literary fiction than horror so bear that in mind before you crack it open. I loved the writing. Some serious talent went into these pages and each page delivered the kind of entertainment a serious reader needs.
The plot was fantastic, I actually quite enjoyed the 2 timelines and really felt it bought the whole thing together. Not much in the way of character development for me, but I find that horror reads don’t need that so much. The descriptions of the woods and whole vibe in general really hit the high notes for me.
Don’t get looking for an explanation of the supernatural because you won’t get one. That would usually bother me but as I read this from a literary perspective instead of horror, it worked really well to give the ambience of the unknown.
This book is rock solid so if you are a literary fiction fan who loves a dash of horror then this book is a winner!
4.5 stars!
Thank you #netgalley and #rebellion for my review copy! I thoroughly enjoyed it
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I will echo some previous reviewers, this book is definitely a slow creeping kind of horror but it does crest at a point that I found very intriguing. I blew through the last 100 pages. The ending was very satisfying to me in the way I received answers to some questions but not all. And maybe not to the important ones. And that was definitely done intentionally.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Gun violence
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I’m not really one for ambiguous endings, but I did enjoy the tension of this book. However, it seemed a shame that Nuria fell at the last hurdle (or did she?), especially because she is the only character I liked! The characters (barring two) weren’t really developed enough for me to have a connection, and I strongly disliked Alice - her motivations seemed quite small in relation to the issue! I can see the lens that the real enemy is perhaps the human race. This book was an interesting read however, and I hope that the author writes more folk horror!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Vomit
Moderate: War