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3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
I don't know why it is so hard for me to give a book a five star rating, but this one came close. I loved the story; it fascinated me. It is a gothic, fantasy, supernatural type story with its roots in an ancient Scottish ballad. The Faire Folk make quite an impression, as do the artistic, mystical professors and students at the university in Fair Hollow. I can honestly say that there were a few plot twists that caught me off guard, which is a very good thing! I am quite looking forward to reading the next one.
Couldn't finish reading this, the writing was terrible and the plot was convoluted.
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Pretty, gothic descriptions of people, places and things (which somewhat reminded me of the goth scene in the 90s), but the story was a pretty generic re-telling of Tam Lin for YA.
Maybe even a 3.5. I enjoyed this novel with its twisted, turning plot, the crazy characters - it was at times a bit convoluted but it was always fun to read. The principal players in this first book by Katherine Harbour are Finn, Sylvie and Christie - and they were written with much heart, loyalty and friendship and I routed for them throughout the book. Thorn Jack is a better written book than any of the Twilights, so if you like other wordly stories of demons, witches, seers, and fairies, then this book is for you!
This book could be so much better if the author had spent just a bit more time with the character and romance development. It's obvious she put a lot of time into researching Irish folklore and world building and the plot is pretty decent but the characters feel just thrown in there. If you think Edward and Bella had zero romantic development wait until you read this. The two romantic leads are ready to sacrifice everything after seeing each other once; and it's really never developed past the point that they think the other is pretty and they can't live without them.
Unlike a lot of YA novels, the lead character's (Finn's) friends do get more of their own stories and the rest of the characters are fairly interesting. However, the two leads that we're stuck with are pretty much shells (she's sweet, naive, and stubborn; he's the broody anti-hero) and could be any romantic couple from any recent YA novel.
Will I read the rest of the books? Yes. There's only two more and I want to see how it ends, plus they're quick reads.
Would I recommend this book? Only to people who really like YA and have no problem reading the same predictive tropes set against a "new" backdrop.
Unlike a lot of YA novels, the lead character's (Finn's) friends do get more of their own stories and the rest of the characters are fairly interesting. However, the two leads that we're stuck with are pretty much shells (she's sweet, naive, and stubborn; he's the broody anti-hero) and could be any romantic couple from any recent YA novel.
Will I read the rest of the books? Yes. There's only two more and I want to see how it ends, plus they're quick reads.
Would I recommend this book? Only to people who really like YA and have no problem reading the same predictive tropes set against a "new" backdrop.
I couldn't finish this book, which I hardly ever do. The premise was promising, but I felt a lot of things were just happening with no explanation as to why they were, just because they had to happen. Christie and Sylvie become friends with Finn just because- there's no real reason or connection with it. Finn meets Christie behind her house in the woods and somehow they're friends after that, and she becomes friends with Sylvie too by default, and I'm just like, what? How did this happen? And the thing with Jack is the same way- Finn sees him, is intrigued, and suddenly she's in love with him. That escalated quickly. It also feels more high schoolish than the college age it's supposed to be, it feels very juvenile I'm some parts, such as the whole fight with Angyll and going to the office to discuss it- I had to recheck at that point to make sure this was college and not high school. There's this random nonsense quality to the book that I didn't necessarily care for- and flipping to the back and finding in the authors note that some of the inspiration came from Alice in Wonderland explained a lot of my aversion. To be fair I did truly like the setting and all the hits of mythology and folklore flung in, but I simply couldn't finish it.
Ann Miner collection. Life is too short for books you don't enjoy.