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3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
Alice in wonderland, Edgar Allen Poe, and Irish Dark Fairy tales decided to toss their keys in a bowl at rave in the woods and all ended up together making Tim Burton’s wet dream! That’s what this story was, dark and delicious.
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Gothic Contemporary FairyTale
So uniquely dark. This story held twists and turns and poetic fluidity. I will definitely read Thorn Jack again because there is just too much symbolism, charm and intrigue to appreciate for just a single read.
I am thoroughly amazed this is Katherine Harbour's first book. She writes so well. Her style is so masterful with a talented command of language and prose. She writes better than many well seasoned authors. I am a fan.
note to friends: much more gruesome read than I usually read, there's some profanity(polarized by my listening on audiobook)
So uniquely dark. This story held twists and turns and poetic fluidity. I will definitely read Thorn Jack again because there is just too much symbolism, charm and intrigue to appreciate for just a single read.
I am thoroughly amazed this is Katherine Harbour's first book. She writes so well. Her style is so masterful with a talented command of language and prose. She writes better than many well seasoned authors. I am a fan.
note to friends: much more gruesome read than I usually read, there's some profanity(polarized by my listening on audiobook)
The purple prose got to be too much for me
Thorn Jack by Katherine Harbour paints an evocative picture of Upstate New York. It is a competent retelling of the Scottish ballad ‘Tam Lin’, modernized for our time.
Read the rest of my review here
Review goes live in July
Read the rest of my review here
Review goes live in July
Graded By: Jennie
Cover Story: Skull Garden
BFF Charm: Meh
Swoonworthy Scale: 3
Talky Talk: Tale As Old As Time
Bonus Factor: College
Relationship Status: See You Around
Read the full book report here.
Cover Story: Skull Garden
BFF Charm: Meh
Swoonworthy Scale: 3
Talky Talk: Tale As Old As Time
Bonus Factor: College
Relationship Status: See You Around
Read the full book report here.
I should have loved this book. I thought I would. I wanted to so badly. But I didn't. I couldn't. The premise isn't bad, a little simple, but not bad. A girl moves to a new town run my malevolent fairies and she must fight to save her loved ones and herself. And while this book is guilty of insta-love I don't hold any grudges for it. I do hold a grudge for the writing.
Harbor writes beautifully, she does. There's a lot of effort put into sounding poetic, and there are some scenes that were too scary to read alone at night. But the pacing. Oh lord. It's awful. She never developed a scene. She's jumping forward constantly, most scenes lasting a page or two. And the scenes that are longer are just filled with whimsical and malevolent setting descriptions. I feel like this book would make a great graphic novel because it's all beauty with no substance. Like yes, this place is creepy and magical, I get it. Can we please get the plot going? Fairies everywhere. Weird looking people. Creepy vibes. Duly noted. Let's get this party actually going. Oh no wait, it's over. New party scene. Uhg. Instead of developing the plot or the characters she focuses purely on developing atmosphere and it gets very repetitive.
Another annoyance with this book is that while I found it in the fantasy section, and the main character is in college, it starts off very juvenile. They're college students acting like snobby middle schoolers. It was one of the first turn offs that was sadly not the worst.
This book wasn't terrible. But it was a huge let down for me. I had to force myself to finish it because dammit I'm not a quitter! But if this had been a library book I definitely would have return it after the first few chapters. I think I'll wait a few years, let Harbor publish a few more books, and try her again. She has great potential, but she needs to refocus on plot and characters and stop trying to be so moody and atmospheric.
Harbor writes beautifully, she does. There's a lot of effort put into sounding poetic, and there are some scenes that were too scary to read alone at night. But the pacing. Oh lord. It's awful. She never developed a scene. She's jumping forward constantly, most scenes lasting a page or two. And the scenes that are longer are just filled with whimsical and malevolent setting descriptions. I feel like this book would make a great graphic novel because it's all beauty with no substance. Like yes, this place is creepy and magical, I get it. Can we please get the plot going? Fairies everywhere. Weird looking people. Creepy vibes. Duly noted. Let's get this party actually going. Oh no wait, it's over. New party scene. Uhg. Instead of developing the plot or the characters she focuses purely on developing atmosphere and it gets very repetitive.
Another annoyance with this book is that while I found it in the fantasy section, and the main character is in college, it starts off very juvenile. They're college students acting like snobby middle schoolers. It was one of the first turn offs that was sadly not the worst.
This book wasn't terrible. But it was a huge let down for me. I had to force myself to finish it because dammit I'm not a quitter! But if this had been a library book I definitely would have return it after the first few chapters. I think I'll wait a few years, let Harbor publish a few more books, and try her again. She has great potential, but she needs to refocus on plot and characters and stop trying to be so moody and atmospheric.
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
This was awful. I only made t a few chapters, but I felt like I had been reading for an eternity. These college kids all act like they're high schoolers and blame it on living in a small town. It's like Mean Girls times a million. And it drove me crazy that one of the main guy characters was named Christie. I couldn't handle more than a few chapters despite the plot sounding interesting.
I really enjoyed the beginning of this novel, gobbled it up in fact, but at about halfway through it I tired of reading about how beautiful every character is, and what they are wearing. The politics are mucky and the confrontations are poorly described. All together it's like manga and Hot Topic had a baby.