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3.29 AVERAGE
3.29 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
medium-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
The Dark Between the Trees was an interesting premise. I love dark, spooky legends based in the woods! A group of five women set out to investigate the Moresby Forest to see if they can find any evidence to support a 600-year-old legend of a creature in the wood. 300 years after the legend is first told, a platoon of Parliamentarian soldiers go into but never come out of the woods. The story is told in alternating timelines, switching between the modern-day researchers and the 17th-century soldiers. The women and soldiers experience strange things as they trek through the woods, each in a different way. Who will make it out? Will anyone? This novel tests your belief in superstition and makes you consider what is real and what isn't.
The mixed storylines did get confusing at times, and I wasn't sure what the deal was with the eyeball with deer antlers.
Thanks to NetGalley and Rebellion for the advanced copy to review. Publishes on 11 Oct 22.
The mixed storylines did get confusing at times, and I wasn't sure what the deal was with the eyeball with deer antlers.
Thanks to NetGalley and Rebellion for the advanced copy to review. Publishes on 11 Oct 22.
dark
tense
slow-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
Full thoughts: https://fictionmajorette.blogspot.com/2022/11/the-dark-between-trees-fiona-barnett.html
The setting and lore was the real key of this story for me and I thought both were fantastic. I was expecting this read to be more of a creeping gradual horror but we know almost immediately that something isn't right in Moresby Wood and I absolutely loved it. There was a nice mix of the supernatural threats with some realistic environmental hardships that really built up well over the course of the book.
I really enjoyed the dual timeline aspect but I do wish the book was a little longer in order to more fully flesh out both sides of the story. The story is split pretty much 50/50 between the soldiers in 1643 and the researchers in present day. The events in the two timelines somewhat mirror each other, which leads to a really fun dynamic for the reader.
Where this book lost me a bit was with all the characters. I found this to be a pretty short read at around 300 pages and since it was split pretty evenly between the two timelines, there just wasn't a lot of room for all the characters and relationships. I'm more of a character-focused reader which is why I think I like these isolated mystery/horror reads so much.
I wasn't the biggest fan of the narration style of this read. The story was told from a 3rd person POV that alternated being closer to one character and then farther away so the reader could get information from other characters. It wasn't technically headhopping, but it gave me that same feeling while reading of not being completely settled in the narration.
Overall, I really liked the premise and setting of this read, but I wanted some tweaks in order to be more connected to the characters.
Thanks to NetGalley and Rebellion publishing for the ARC.
Expected publication date is October 11, 2022.
The setting and lore was the real key of this story for me and I thought both were fantastic. I was expecting this read to be more of a creeping gradual horror but we know almost immediately that something isn't right in Moresby Wood and I absolutely loved it. There was a nice mix of the supernatural threats with some realistic environmental hardships that really built up well over the course of the book.
I really enjoyed the dual timeline aspect but I do wish the book was a little longer in order to more fully flesh out both sides of the story. The story is split pretty much 50/50 between the soldiers in 1643 and the researchers in present day. The events in the two timelines somewhat mirror each other, which leads to a really fun dynamic for the reader.
Where this book lost me a bit was with all the characters. I found this to be a pretty short read at around 300 pages and since it was split pretty evenly between the two timelines, there just wasn't a lot of room for all the characters and relationships. I'm more of a character-focused reader which is why I think I like these isolated mystery/horror reads so much.
I wasn't the biggest fan of the narration style of this read. The story was told from a 3rd person POV that alternated being closer to one character and then farther away so the reader could get information from other characters. It wasn't technically headhopping, but it gave me that same feeling while reading of not being completely settled in the narration.
Overall, I really liked the premise and setting of this read, but I wanted some tweaks in order to be more connected to the characters.
Thanks to NetGalley and Rebellion publishing for the ARC.
Expected publication date is October 11, 2022.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-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:
Complicated
I liked the basic story (sort of like if Annihilation had been about history instead of biology) but it dragged in the middle and I wish the present day characters had a little more depth to them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Gun violence, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, War
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
"The Dark Between The Trees" by Fiona Barnett is, the story of the Moresby Woods where a group of soldiers enter during the English Civil War and where during Modern Day five women also enter these woods.
I would give "The Dark Between The Trees" by Fiona Barnett a one star review because, 1; it was really confusing when the story splits to tell both time lines 2; there were too many characters to keep up with and it got really confusing and 3; it was really slow at times for me and seemed to drag on.
I would give "The Dark Between The Trees" by Fiona Barnett a one star review because, 1; it was really confusing when the story splits to tell both time lines 2; there were too many characters to keep up with and it got really confusing and 3; it was really slow at times for me and seemed to drag on.
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ugh, I wanted to like this so badly, but it just got worse and worse. Every time it touched on something interesting, the focus flipped back to the blandest characters ever - I couldn’t tell them apart from one another and none of their motivations made any sense at all. All of this for a cop out ending that didn’t fit with any of the build up and didn’t resolve any questions.
The two stars are purely for concept. If anyone else wrote a book about this, maybe I would have loved it.
The two stars are purely for concept. If anyone else wrote a book about this, maybe I would have loved it.