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lizbutcher's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
5.0
aranjournal's review against another edition
4.0
Su lomo y portada me llamaron desde el estante. Su título me intrigó. Su sinopsis me dio ganas de adentrarme en su historia en la misma librería y los primeros capítulos me confirmaron que iba a disfrutar muchísimo esta historia.
Este libro es una maravilla. Es como si el autor hubiera puesto sobre la mesa todas aquellas obras, autores y lo mejor de cada uno de mis géneros favoritos y, cuidadosamente, los hubiera tejido sobre la trama.
Referencias continuas a obras de Shakespeare, Poe, Milton o Dante. Respirar a Bécquer en cada párrafo. El bosque, la casa familiar, la atmosfera que atrae a la vez que sobrecoge... sí, señor.
Este libro es una maravilla. Es como si el autor hubiera puesto sobre la mesa todas aquellas obras, autores y lo mejor de cada uno de mis géneros favoritos y, cuidadosamente, los hubiera tejido sobre la trama.
Referencias continuas a obras de Shakespeare, Poe, Milton o Dante. Respirar a Bécquer en cada párrafo. El bosque, la casa familiar, la atmosfera que atrae a la vez que sobrecoge... sí, señor.
beckielee0214's review against another edition
3.0
It's an eerie gothic thriller. A bit slow for even a small book, but was still good.
paper_prose's review
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death
kf21's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
bookboop's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
olinoel's review
2.0
This might have been a perfectly good novel if it weren't for the insufferable main character. Listen, I like flawed and morally gray characters, antiheroes, sympathetic villains, etc. I like to see a hard-won redemption arc, or even a hopeless descent into madness. But there's nothing that interesting going on with this guy. He's an absolute cad in the most mediocre way possible, not even fun to hate. Only the lush prose and the gothic fairytale atmosphere kept me reading until the (unsatisfying) end.
eserafina42's review
4.0
Charles Hayden and his wife Erin first met and bonded over the obscure Victorian fantasy novel In the Night Wood, by Erin’s distant relative Caedmon Hollow. After their daughter’s tragic death on her sixth birthday, however, the two are estranged, trapped in their grief, when they discover that Erin has inherited Hollow House, the ancestral manse where Hollow had lived and written the book, on the edge of one of the oldest forests in Britain. They cross the Atlantic in the hopes of escaping their own demons and, in Charles’ case, of finding material for a biography of the mysterious author. Instead, they find themselves drawn deeper into Caedmon Hollow’s world, where the forest is deep and dangerous, and little girls can get lost forever in the fulfillment of a dark bargain made long ago.
This is exactly the type of book I like—gothic; carefully structured, with people and events echoing and referring to one another; allusive; and deeply rooted in British folklore. I would love to give it 5 stars, and if half stars were allowed I might consider four and a half. Its biggest flaw, however, which I could not ignore, was its portrayal of Charles’ wife Erin, especially considering that she ends up playing a pivotal role at the climax. To me, Erin barely exists at all, as she is consumed by her grief for her daughter. There is reference to her having been an attorney, I believe, but the only time I can ever remember seeing her as a person is at the time of her meeting with Charles. Maybe it’s necessary for the plot and I’m suffering from a failure of empathy (I can’t even imagine how devastating it must be to lose a child), but her obsessive wallowing starts to seem self-indulgent, and it’s hard for me to believe she could rouse herself to the extent she does. Charles also comes off badly in his apparent willingness to allow her to essentially destroy herself, though again, it could be argued that this is necessary to the story. I also found the ending a bit abrupt. Some of the aforementioned problems I had might have been assuaged if we had seen something of what followed and—assuming that Erin might have begun to heal from her grief—a fuller, more rounded picture of her.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is exactly the type of book I like—gothic; carefully structured, with people and events echoing and referring to one another; allusive; and deeply rooted in British folklore. I would love to give it 5 stars, and if half stars were allowed I might consider four and a half. Its biggest flaw, however, which I could not ignore, was its portrayal of Charles’ wife Erin, especially considering that she ends up playing a pivotal role at the climax. To me, Erin barely exists at all, as she is consumed by her grief for her daughter. There is reference to her having been an attorney, I believe, but the only time I can ever remember seeing her as a person is at the time of her meeting with Charles. Maybe it’s necessary for the plot and I’m suffering from a failure of empathy (I can’t even imagine how devastating it must be to lose a child), but her obsessive wallowing starts to seem self-indulgent, and it’s hard for me to believe she could rouse herself to the extent she does. Charles also comes off badly in his apparent willingness to allow her to essentially destroy herself, though again, it could be argued that this is necessary to the story. I also found the ending a bit abrupt. Some of the aforementioned problems I had might have been assuaged if we had seen something of what followed and—assuming that Erin might have begun to heal from her grief—a fuller, more rounded picture of her.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
mommasaystoread's review
2.0
In the Night Wood has all the elements for a gripping dark fairy tale - a wonderfully descriptive creepy setting, a lost child, and subtle and not so subtle ties between current and past events. Unfortunately, I wasn't gripped, and other than a few sightings here and there, I found very little in the way of fantasy. In fact, I found most of the story to be rather depressing. The author gives us a premise that hints at something original in the genre, but instead falls back on too many references to classic literature. Granted, those references work well with the dark tone of the story, but I would've liked a little more originality. That aside, my real problem with this story lay in the characters. Flawed or unreliable characters in a tale like this can work well, but there has to be something redeemable there. I didn't find that with Charles. He's certainly flawed, but I didn't see a single thing to like about this man. He's made mistakes and even acknowledges them, but he doesn't learn from the experiences, nor does he attempt to change. Charles' wife, Erin, is little more than a caricature in the story. We know she's grieving and has turned to drugs and alcohol, and that pretty well sums it up. I can empathize with her loss, but with so little development, it felt more like reading about a stranger in the newspaper - we have the bare bones details but no depth. We learn more about Silva during the will Charles cheat or won't he period than we ever learn about Erin. She does eventually come out of her substance induced haze and take some action, but for me, it was just too little, too late. Which is also how I felt about the fantasy aspect of the book. It's not particularly lengthy, coming in at just over two hundred pages, but most of it is heavy and felt much longer than it actually is. In fact, it took me over a week to finally finish it. It was way too easy to set aside for something that held my interest. The author is talented, there are lots of pretty words and the scene setting is brilliant, but there just wasn't much done with that until the big finish. In the end, the story was more a depressing account of two grieving parents and a failing marriage than dark fantasy. That does come in for the last act, but it felt rushed, and much like my thoughts about Erin, it was way too little, too late. This seems to be one of those books that people will either love it or hate it and after reading the blurb, I really wanted to love it. Sadly, I fall into the latter category and come away quite disappointed.
renbooks's review
2.0
I really wanted to love this book based on the synopsis and the beautiful cover. I did initially like it but the longer it went on the harder it was to enjoy it. One thing that really got me on audiobook is I just hate when they pick a British narrator to do American characters. It's like every British narrator has learned how to speak like an American from 1940s movie actors. None of the American characters sounded actually American, which is annoying when the two main characters of this book are American. I'm sure the British find American narrators doing British accents just as cringey. Picking a British narrator who can't do an American accent well was a weird and poor choice for this novel.
Now that that's out of the way, I once again question if it's possible for me to like a book when the main character is such an asshole. Cheated on his wife, was on the phone with his mistress when his child died while he should have been supervising her but wasn't, is thinking about cheating again with a different woman while his wife is grieving. Ugh, why do authors do this? Is it a test to see if people can like a book with an unlikeable main character? I just don't know.
One positive thing I can say is I liked the setting with the night wood, and I liked the supernatural premise. I just didn't like the execution, with all the little girls with very similar names, and the crappy female characters. I probably wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.
Now that that's out of the way, I once again question if it's possible for me to like a book when the main character is such an asshole. Cheated on his wife, was on the phone with his mistress when his child died while he should have been supervising her but wasn't, is thinking about cheating again with a different woman while his wife is grieving. Ugh, why do authors do this? Is it a test to see if people can like a book with an unlikeable main character? I just don't know.
One positive thing I can say is I liked the setting with the night wood, and I liked the supernatural premise. I just didn't like the execution, with all the little girls with very similar names, and the crappy female characters. I probably wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.