A review by fdallachy
Pine by Francine Toon

dark mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Trying to be objective, this is a well-written book. It's atmospheric and it succeeds in building a sense of dread as it goes along. It does trade a little bit in Scottish stereotypes but, depressingly, most of them feel fairly accurate so this isn't exactly a flaw.

More subjectively, I don't like books about neglected or abused children, so this was never going to gel with me. I also have a fairly low tolerance for New Age spiritualism, which means the spooky happenings occasionally felt silly to me rather than suspenseful. When dealing with those drawbacks, what's left isn't original or interesting enough to have kept me engaged.

Overall, then, I think it's a good book that others would enjoy, I just didn't myself.
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