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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
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:
Complicated
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It was “stay up until almost 2 am to finish it” good. I have seen a quite the last few year reminding us, “They didn’t burn witches. They burned women.” While the woman in this case happened to be a witch, reading part of the story from her POV really drove that home, especially in the context of the politics surrounding her sentence. The impacts to her family were felt for centuries, illustrated by the connection to the half of the story from the current age, in itself a family drama told well enough to stand on its own.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
WOW this is a dark book, and I loved that about it. The sense of helplessness is overwhelming.
I thought the 1500s timeline was incredibly strong, and the horror elements were fantastic.
However, on finishing the book I realised that there isn’t that much actual tension in the modern day storyline. The only thing holding it for me was the idea that the two times would communicate with each other/have influence over the other, but that didn’t happen. Instead, it was a kid in hospital getting possessed, but that wasn’t massively tension filled because we pretty much knew why from the beginning, and a mum running around trying to find then returning a book. We don’t even see the interesting parts of that process. The past storyline was WAY more compelling.
And then coming to my major gripe of the story. Why, oh why, did the Book show images of each timeline to the other when nothing they did affected any of it?? If that hadn’t been included, I would have felt a lot happier with the ending. I was expecting a communication between the two times in some way, or their actions to influence the other’s story, but that never happened. Without them being shown images of each other, that expectation wouldn’t have been there, and I would have been happy with the only links being Edward possessing Erin and the cult/returning the book vibes in the present. The images did nothing but set me up with expectations that didn’t deliver.
So, overall, I did have a good time reading this, it was really well written, the audiobook was fab, but the ending left me wanting.
And then coming to my major gripe of the story. Why, oh why, did the Book show images of each timeline to the other when nothing they did affected any of it?? If that hadn’t been included, I would have felt a lot happier with the ending. I was expecting a communication between the two times in some way, or their actions to influence the other’s story, but that never happened. Without them being shown images of each other, that expectation wouldn’t have been there, and I would have been happy with the only links being Edward possessing Erin and the cult/returning the book vibes in the present. The images did nothing but set me up with expectations that didn’t deliver.
So, overall, I did have a good time reading this, it was really well written, the audiobook was fab, but the ending left me wanting.
This book started off sooooooo strong but to me the investigation aspect really took me out of the dark tones of the book. I really enjoyed the plot but it gets a little clunky at the end. It was a fun, entertaining audiobook. But as soon as book start talking about TikTok I’m out lol
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced