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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I think that about 90% of the time that we see any of the main women (besides Tara) in this book they are forcing food upon someone or being very maternal, regardless of age or relation to the person they were doing it to. I feel that the women weren't treated as fully developed characters or respected in their knowledge in their fields (ex- Genevieve, a psychologist, was implied to know nothing about what was going with the psychology of a person's mind). Two adult/minor relationships take place, one is less ovibous than the other but the way I interpreted it, it was there.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Mental illness, Rape, Police brutality, Stalking, Abortion
I loved this book right up until the ending which left me frustrated and unsatisfied. It is a unique and clever twist to the subject matter of Fae. I've read many Fae novels and this is the first time I've seen a story approached from this angle which opened a rich landscape of psychological thought on how others deal with unexplained disappearances. As a psychological drama it was excellent. The research was detailed and expertly weaved into the telling of the tale. The characters were richly developed. The voice was exquisite. Unfortunately the mystery of who is telling the story which bookend the book was very frustrating and unexplained. Why tell the reader this is a mystery which will explain everything and then give no clues who it is or even allow the reader to have any idea who the narrator is after finishing?! In the end the story is hauntingly sad leaving me aching for unrealized dreams.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Tara est-elle psychologiquement instable... ou a-t-elle vraiment vécu dans une “autre dimension”? Va-t-elle repartir sans aucune nouvelle ou est-elle revenue pour rester? Comment les proches doivent-ils prendre ce retour inopiné... Après un silence de plusieurs années...
L’intrigue se dévoile subtilement en laissant la place aux différents protagonistes, parfois haut en couleur
Belle traduction FR
L’intrigue se dévoile subtilement en laissant la place aux différents protagonistes, parfois haut en couleur
Belle traduction FR
Occasionally quite fun, but somehow it didn't manage to do it for me.
I liked the general idea of it: girl meets fairy, girl vanishes into fairy land for 20 years, other people's lives are turned into a mess. Girl comes back, girl goes to shrink who doesn't get it, girl messes up everybody's lives again.
But while I liked the *point* of it, somehow the psychiatrist struck me as a huge idiot (come on, she looks young and slim because she's anorexic? Have you *seen* a person with real anorexia?!), and her retelling of what happened to her kind of lacks depth.
It's a nice book, but not as good as it might have been.
I liked the general idea of it: girl meets fairy, girl vanishes into fairy land for 20 years, other people's lives are turned into a mess. Girl comes back, girl goes to shrink who doesn't get it, girl messes up everybody's lives again.
But while I liked the *point* of it, somehow the psychiatrist struck me as a huge idiot (come on, she looks young and slim because she's anorexic? Have you *seen* a person with real anorexia?!), and her retelling of what happened to her kind of lacks depth.
It's a nice book, but not as good as it might have been.
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-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:
Yes
The beginning of the book got my hopes up, I thought there would be much more of the fairy side of this book than there was. Instead it was much more about the change that the fairy story has had on everyone's life. The story is kind of a 'what happens when the changeling returns to our world after being in fairy-land.'
Also, the sections that were about fairy-land were not lovely, or beautiful, or Romantic (in the formal sense). The fairy characters are underdeveloped and their world is essentially just one of free love with some unusual aspects thrown in. The fairies are not the stereotypes we would expect (which is good), but they are not 'good' or 'beautiful'. I am the first to say fairy lands do not need to be all light and cheer, but there's a way to evoke a kind of cold beauty that is still good and wholesome (here's looking at you, Tolkien). This kind of beauty, in my opinion, is just more effective overall, and I think the efforts to draw me in to this fairy land just fell short. Maybe that's the point, but I don't read a fairy tale to NOT want to be in fairy land. Whether intentional or not, this weakened the book substantially.
One positive is that in some sections, particularly at the beginning, Joyce's language is very engaging and evokes the kind of atmosphere and mystery you want from a mythological fairy tale. But I didn't think this was developed enough through the rest of the book.
Disappointed, I thought it had potential.
Perhaps it does, but it was just not what I was expecting. I was expecting a 'fairy tale in fairy land' and this was not it.
Also, the sections that were about fairy-land were not lovely, or beautiful, or Romantic (in the formal sense). The fairy characters are underdeveloped and their world is essentially just one of free love with some unusual aspects thrown in. The fairies are not the stereotypes we would expect (which is good), but they are not 'good' or 'beautiful'. I am the first to say fairy lands do not need to be all light and cheer, but there's a way to evoke a kind of cold beauty that is still good and wholesome (here's looking at you, Tolkien). This kind of beauty, in my opinion, is just more effective overall, and I think the efforts to draw me in to this fairy land just fell short. Maybe that's the point, but I don't read a fairy tale to NOT want to be in fairy land. Whether intentional or not, this weakened the book substantially.
One positive is that in some sections, particularly at the beginning, Joyce's language is very engaging and evokes the kind of atmosphere and mystery you want from a mythological fairy tale. But I didn't think this was developed enough through the rest of the book.
Disappointed, I thought it had potential.
Perhaps it does, but it was just not what I was expecting. I was expecting a 'fairy tale in fairy land' and this was not it.