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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
Arrowood by Laura McHugh is a 2016 Spiegel & Grau publication. I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Arrowood lives up to the hype as a good old fashioned Gothic mystery!
After Arden’s ne’er do well father dies, she is surprised to learn she has inherited her childhood home…Arrowood, located in the town of Keokuk, Iowa. One part of her is excited about inheriting the house, reuniting with her former friends, and getting a fresh start, but she also feels trepidation about facing the memories associated with the house…
When Arden was a child, her twin sisters disappeared and were never found, dead or alive. Now, just as she is returning home, a mystery buff, with his own troubled history,begins writing an article about the twins for his website, and is convinced the prime suspect may be innocent. As Josh gently probes Arden’s memories, the secrets of the past slowly reveal themselves as Arden learns the truth about her parent’s marriage and shocking truth of what really happened to her sisters.
As promised, this story has all the classic elements a good Gothic tale should possess. A big, creepy house, dark family secrets, sinister, untrustworthy characters, and layers of psychological terror and suspense. I love, love. love these kinds of stories. Always have, always will.
My only complaint is the brevity of the book, not only because I didn’t want it to end, but because it did feel rushed at times, which is a no-no in the Gothic genre, which normally employees a slower pace in order to add those delicious atmospheric layers.
So as not to dwell too much on the Gothic elements, this novel also explores the way the mind can play tricks on us, how we can be so sure our memories are right, when in truth we have selective memories, with our hearts sending signals to our brains to protect us from pain, from remembering more than we can digest or cope with. While Arden has very vivid, detailed memories of the day her sisters disappeared, her version of events is challenged, causing her to rethink the past, to dig deeper into her psyche and attempt to keep her mind open to other possibilities. What she finds buried deep in her subconscious mind may be the key to solving the mystery of her sister’s disappearance.
The past collides with the present, revealing the darkest parts of humanity, creating a thick, heavy atmosphere of suspense that had me held me spellbound with an ever increasing sense of foreboding, building the suspense to a fever pitch, whacking with an emotional wallop you will never see coming!
Yep, this is my kind of book. It’s possible the edge and atmosphere may be lost on those unfamiliar with the Gothic tones of the book, but for those who ‘get’ it, this one is a real gem!
4 stars
Arrowood lives up to the hype as a good old fashioned Gothic mystery!
After Arden’s ne’er do well father dies, she is surprised to learn she has inherited her childhood home…Arrowood, located in the town of Keokuk, Iowa. One part of her is excited about inheriting the house, reuniting with her former friends, and getting a fresh start, but she also feels trepidation about facing the memories associated with the house…
When Arden was a child, her twin sisters disappeared and were never found, dead or alive. Now, just as she is returning home, a mystery buff, with his own troubled history,begins writing an article about the twins for his website, and is convinced the prime suspect may be innocent. As Josh gently probes Arden’s memories, the secrets of the past slowly reveal themselves as Arden learns the truth about her parent’s marriage and shocking truth of what really happened to her sisters.
As promised, this story has all the classic elements a good Gothic tale should possess. A big, creepy house, dark family secrets, sinister, untrustworthy characters, and layers of psychological terror and suspense. I love, love. love these kinds of stories. Always have, always will.
My only complaint is the brevity of the book, not only because I didn’t want it to end, but because it did feel rushed at times, which is a no-no in the Gothic genre, which normally employees a slower pace in order to add those delicious atmospheric layers.
So as not to dwell too much on the Gothic elements, this novel also explores the way the mind can play tricks on us, how we can be so sure our memories are right, when in truth we have selective memories, with our hearts sending signals to our brains to protect us from pain, from remembering more than we can digest or cope with. While Arden has very vivid, detailed memories of the day her sisters disappeared, her version of events is challenged, causing her to rethink the past, to dig deeper into her psyche and attempt to keep her mind open to other possibilities. What she finds buried deep in her subconscious mind may be the key to solving the mystery of her sister’s disappearance.
The past collides with the present, revealing the darkest parts of humanity, creating a thick, heavy atmosphere of suspense that had me held me spellbound with an ever increasing sense of foreboding, building the suspense to a fever pitch, whacking with an emotional wallop you will never see coming!
Yep, this is my kind of book. It’s possible the edge and atmosphere may be lost on those unfamiliar with the Gothic tones of the book, but for those who ‘get’ it, this one is a real gem!
4 stars
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Suicide attempt
Minor: Pedophilia
Set in a small Iowa town located on the Mississippi River , Arrowood is a gothic mystery centered around the disappearance of the Arrowwod twins years before. The surviving sister, Arden, returns to the historical home she grew up in and struggles to deal with the memories of her sisters.
It was a bit dry. It's a nice, quick, and easy read. Was a little disappointed though with how it panned out. I feel like it could've been a bit longer with more detail and a better plot.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
so much of the plot was boring, idiotic, and, irrelevant. jhc.
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Gothic mystery set in the Midwest. Didn't want to put it down.
laura mchugh really is a master wordsmith. she writes murder mysteries that aren't, not really. it's always more complex and more sad than you think it is. the weight of blood is an incredible book, but arrowood shows the evolution of mchugh's writing style and themes in a really amazing way. there's more than just twists and turns and jumpscares, like a lot of mysteries. at its core, this is a book about human nature and nostalgia and how we're shaped by our memories, for better and for worse.
I read (listened to) this for an on-line book club with no real expectations about the book. I started it on Monday morning, and was hooked. I wound up staying up too late Tuesday night because I got to an exciting bit and couldn't put it down until the immediate crisis was resolved, and I finished it right after dropping kids off at school Wednesday morning. It is a pretty good mystery, with twists and turns along the way. My favorite thing about the book was the sense of place that was conveyed during the telling of the story. And the ending was pretty cool.