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yvo_about_books's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Finished reading: February 24th 2024
DNF at 21% (63 pages)
DNF at 21% (63 pages)
"It is happening. It's happening now. It's all folding in on itself. Time. We're its reluctant passengers. It's not a circle. It's the weaving of things in and out, of things collapsing. But all existing in parallel."
*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***
WARNING: get ready to jump aboard the unpopular opinion train again!!
I'm honestly SO sad this happened again. I mean, I was intrigued as soon as I saw the cover, but it was the blurb that made me want to add Forgotten Girls straight away. This story sounded absolutely fantastic with its mysterious house, the drownings, the podcast angle, the magical realism/horror vibe... And I fully expected to have found a new favorite. Unfortunately the complete opposite ended up happening, and I had to make the difficult decision to turn this book into my second DNF of the year. Sometimes books just aren't ment to be!
First of all I have to stress that I still love the premise of this story. There is SO much potential to be found, but somehow the execution was not what I expected. I'm suspecting this is probably a 'it's not you, it's me' problem, as more lyrical, literary and otherworldly writing is never a big hit for me... But the fact is that I clashed horribly with the writing style, up until the point that it almost became torture to keep reading. You can find an example in the quote above; it's quite an unique style, and this often provokes strong reactions... Sadly in my case it was a negative one. To make things worse, I absolutely despised how Jennie talks, which was probably the worst part of the story I did read.
Another thing I struggled with was the fact that nothing seemed to make sense AT ALL. I mean, I do like a bit of a mystery and magical realism vibe, but I had seriously no clue what was happening and this feeling got old fast. Sure, things might have become more transparent later on, but if you are already struggling with the writing and characters as well, it's hard to find the motivation to plough on. In fact, I did try to put Forgotten Girls on hold for a bit and pick it up later, hoping I was just in the wrong reading mood for it... But as soon as I started reading again, I was in the exact same state of confusion and aversion as the first time around. I simply couldn't find the motivation to keep going to find out if things improved later on, and I decided to throw in the towel once and for all.
I do have to stress that this is probably a case of simply not being the right fit for this story, although I do have to say that I was absolutely fascinated by the blurb itself. Between the fact that I clashed horribly with the writing style and that I basically I had no clue what was going on, Forgotten Girls sadly wasn't my cup of tea... But I've seen others waxing lyrical about this story, so don't give up on my account if you think this might be the book for you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Murder, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness
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