Reviews

The Sanctuary by Andrew Hunter Murray

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lucy_t_firefly's review

slow-paced

2.5

This was not great. It was all rather wishy-washy and mundane leading up to what wasn't actually a particularly impactful climax - I did not care enough about any of it for the ending to really mean anything. Overall had the sense of being rather forgettable. Sorry, Andy...

lauren3101's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-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? No

3.0

malvord27's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious tense 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

4.0

richard_morrow's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A dystopia world where the rich live in walled “Villages” while the working folk have to live in polluted cities. When the main character’s partner chooses to stay in one of these places due to her work, he decides to travel to this island to save her. The initial stages of the novel feel like a near future retelling of a Greek tragedy as the hero goes through hardships and crosses the ocean to reach his beloved. The Sanctuary is a utopia for the young but there is something wrong and every utterance from the residents has sinister undertones; as a reader you are on edge for prolonged periods of time and you simultaneously want to read on and put the book down as the unease builds. The Sanctuary showcases how the garden of Eden can work as long as humans aren’t present. At times this novel feels like James Bond should be present to save the day. This is the kind of novel which will have a lasting effect on any reader and make them question what they see to be true or right in the world. Fast-paced, compelling and completely unputdownable!

_inge's review

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I really tried with this one. I picked it up multiple times and forced myself to read a few chapters, because I was mildly curious about the plot. But I realised around page 100 that I genuinely didn’t care about Ben or Cara whatsoever, but that I kind of needed to to enjoy reading. It’s such a slow burn (really not an intense thriller as I thought, given it’s Waterstones Thriller of the month June). It takes about 80 pages to even get to the island. I had been hoping for an incredible ending, but as I scrolled through book reviews I realised the ending even fell short, and people who enjoyed this novel mostly liked the first half. The writing style is so descriptive and so slow and it just didn’t work for me. This could’ve been a good short story maybe, but in its current state I really can’t push myself to read through this.