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3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
Almost a week after finishing it, I still have some unresolved thoughts and feelings about "Thorn Jack." It's another one of those books I would glad give 3.5/5.0 if it weren't for Goodreads crappy rating system (sorry-not sorry Goodreads). Finn Sullivan and her father leave California for Fair Hollow, New York following her sister Lily's suicide, where Finn plans to start college and her father a new teaching job. Immediately Finn starts noticing some odd things about Fair Hollow and Hallow Heart college. She makes a few friends, but there is also a group of "misfits" who associate with a family named Feta. Although all seem to belong to the same family, Finn quickly notices that something is amiss. She makes two friends, Sylvie and Christie (whom I immediately fell in love with because Christie is also the male lead in one of my favorite movies - What Dreams May Come - RIP Robin Williams). Together, the three of them manage to get in over their heads as they unravel the mysteries of the strange town they call home and its inhabitants.
I have to admit I am not extremely familiar with the tale of Tam Lim and perhaps it may have hindered me some, but for the most part, I think I was able to enjoy Harbour's tale on its own. I like the mystical Feta "family" and enjoyed learning more about their backstories, even mean girl Reiko. Jack was a pain and at times, quite unlikable, but hey, a lot of guys are at his age so I really wasn't surprised. There is a lot of mythology and Scottish folklore which I also found interesting. In fact, I will go to say that I fell in love with the author's odd little town and all its quirky setting and architecture. However, there are also some aspects of the book which I didn't enjoy as much. It iswas VERY wordy and sometimes I felt the descriptions went overboard. In fact, there were times Harbour almost lost me. Also, Finn sort of gave me Bella flashbacks (Twilight). There were times in the book she made stupid decision after stupid decision. I also had a hard time remembering these kids were in college when they clearly acted like high school students most of the time.
I was happy with the conclusion and there are some unresolved issues which I am sure will be addressed in the next two books. I will probably pick up the others at some point because I'm interested to read more of Harbour's lyrical writing and want to see where the story heads now that the main plot of "Thorn Jack" has been resolved. At one point in the novel, I actually thought it was a town I wished I had lived in but toward the end, that opinion changed (and those who've read this will understand why). If you liked Tam Lin or retellings in general, you should consider giving "Thorn Jack" a read.
I have to admit I am not extremely familiar with the tale of Tam Lim and perhaps it may have hindered me some, but for the most part, I think I was able to enjoy Harbour's tale on its own. I like the mystical Feta "family" and enjoyed learning more about their backstories, even mean girl Reiko. Jack was a pain and at times, quite unlikable, but hey, a lot of guys are at his age so I really wasn't surprised. There is a lot of mythology and Scottish folklore which I also found interesting. In fact, I will go to say that I fell in love with the author's odd little town and all its quirky setting and architecture. However, there are also some aspects of the book which I didn't enjoy as much. It iswas VERY wordy and sometimes I felt the descriptions went overboard. In fact, there were times Harbour almost lost me. Also, Finn sort of gave me Bella flashbacks (Twilight). There were times in the book she made stupid decision after stupid decision. I also had a hard time remembering these kids were in college when they clearly acted like high school students most of the time.
I was happy with the conclusion and there are some unresolved issues which I am sure will be addressed in the next two books. I will probably pick up the others at some point because I'm interested to read more of Harbour's lyrical writing and want to see where the story heads now that the main plot of "Thorn Jack" has been resolved. At one point in the novel, I actually thought it was a town I wished I had lived in but toward the end, that opinion changed (and those who've read this will understand why). If you liked Tam Lin or retellings in general, you should consider giving "Thorn Jack" a read.
I had this on my wishlist (thanks, Jamie!) because it's a retelling of Tam Lin, one of my favorite Scottish folk tales/ballads/stories. And it's a cleverly done one- in fact, I wouldn't call it a retelling so much as a story on its own that touches on Tam Lin toward the end. And I loved it.
I love dark fairytales (clearly- I love Holly Black, Neil Gaiman, Juliet Marillier, and Laini Taylor), and this one was spot-on. It's got beautiful writing with an air of sinister mystery. It's also got romance, not the fluffy kind, a good family dynamic, an old New England town that I would absolutely live in, and some pretty great things to say about friendship. The characters are well developed and the pace is consistent throughout the book.
And honestly, one of my favorite things about it is the main character, Finn, reacts like a normal person to all the crazy stuff happening around her. She questions her sanity, she can't quite accept the supernatural as supernatural, and she may have narcolepsy (or it may be something more vicious- we never really know). She doesn't blithely stride through this dark underworld, she grapples with it. And her heroic qualities include her persistence and her unwillingness to become jaded.
I highly recommend this book to fellow fans of dark fairytales, especially if you're charmed by somewhat-creepy old towns, believably flawed characters, and a host of fey references that you may or may not get as you go along.
I love dark fairytales (clearly- I love Holly Black, Neil Gaiman, Juliet Marillier, and Laini Taylor), and this one was spot-on. It's got beautiful writing with an air of sinister mystery. It's also got romance, not the fluffy kind, a good family dynamic, an old New England town that I would absolutely live in, and some pretty great things to say about friendship. The characters are well developed and the pace is consistent throughout the book.
And honestly, one of my favorite things about it is the main character, Finn, reacts like a normal person to all the crazy stuff happening around her. She questions her sanity, she can't quite accept the supernatural as supernatural, and she may have narcolepsy (or it may be something more vicious- we never really know). She doesn't blithely stride through this dark underworld, she grapples with it. And her heroic qualities include her persistence and her unwillingness to become jaded.
I highly recommend this book to fellow fans of dark fairytales, especially if you're charmed by somewhat-creepy old towns, believably flawed characters, and a host of fey references that you may or may not get as you go along.
This is another book with elements I loved and elements that made me roll my eyes. There was enough that was good so that I'll probably read the rest of the series though.
I really liked the atmosphere of this, though the plot wasn't always as engaging as I'd like and it has some of the typical pitfalls of a romance.
Cool world-building, but the characters and plot didn't really work for me.