Reviews

Bitterhall by Helen McClory

carodonahue's review

challenging emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Very well-written and experimental, but also experimental in the sense that character starts to dissolve so ai had trouble staying engaged by the end. The first third I loved.

flightyrachel's review

4.0

This is an amazing book, ostensibly about three friends who find an old diary, but which is actually about story telling and how we create reality within our own heads.

The three voices which tell the story are distinct, whole and utterly believable, which is ironic as the book is about disintegration, merging and different versions of truth. By keeping the voices so strong, the multiple versions of events are all equally convincing and you can choose to read this as a ghost story or a story of mental collapse.

I really cared about what would happen and I thought the ending was extremely well done, with great sensitivity, and I was very moved by it.

mish_r's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

livianicholson's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

sienchris's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

stephanielynnrp's review

3.0

2.5 stars

willasher's review

2.0

Beautifully written but completely lacking in plot and characterisation. Told from three different perspectives but I didn’t feel connected to any of the characters as we didn’t get to know enough about any of them despite there being 350 pages. The 3D printing thing I found completely random (probably some metaphor which went completely over my head). Ended up skim reading towards the end to just get through. It does get to the point in the end but what a slog.

chiaramarinelli's review against another edition

dark sad fast-paced

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

3.75

abbierhodes's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

4.75

caseyot's review

4.0

very accomplished use of perspective shifts. unsettling and gripping. it's difficult to properly convey the feeling of madness from within it, and I think mcclory has come as close as anything I've read.