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hollasan 's review for:
The Witch Elm
by Tana French
It is very important to go into this book without knowing anything about it. Nothing. Not even the blurb on Goodreads.
The whole book is written in first person - by Toby. He's a lucky guy, has everything going for him, rich parents, successful job, loving girlfriend, a charming personality which helps him slip out of any sticky situation. In short, privileged. All that changes for him one night, and then some.
What we have here is a slow burning, extremely character-driven mystery. A kind of a twist on the typical unreliable narrator. An examination of the human psyche. What do you do when you can't trust your memories anymore? When you can't trust yourself or the people you thought you were closest to? When something shakes you to your very core and you are no longer sure who you are anymore? This is the unraveling of Toby Hennesy. And a constant shifting of family dynamics as the mystery unfolds.
Tana French has incredible range - giving us banter from the pub amongst 3 childhood friends to a chilling line of questioning by detectives - everything with extreme believability. I felt I was right there witnessing everything. I even found myself positively spooked while reading this at night. This was my first book of hers, definitely not going to be the last.
The whole book is written in first person - by Toby. He's a lucky guy, has everything going for him, rich parents, successful job, loving girlfriend, a charming personality which helps him slip out of any sticky situation. In short, privileged. All that changes for him one night, and then some.
What we have here is a slow burning, extremely character-driven mystery. A kind of a twist on the typical unreliable narrator. An examination of the human psyche. What do you do when you can't trust your memories anymore? When you can't trust yourself or the people you thought you were closest to? When something shakes you to your very core and you are no longer sure who you are anymore? This is the unraveling of Toby Hennesy. And a constant shifting of family dynamics as the mystery unfolds.
“One gets into the habit of being oneself. It takes some great upheaval to crack that shell and force us to discover what else might be underneath.”
Tana French has incredible range - giving us banter from the pub amongst 3 childhood friends to a chilling line of questioning by detectives - everything with extreme believability. I felt I was right there witnessing everything. I even found myself positively spooked while reading this at night. This was my first book of hers, definitely not going to be the last.