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twocollins 's review for:

2.75
emotional mysterious sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

The premise of this book is beautiful, but there was a real lack of connection between the protagonists actions and emotions.

I had difficulty connecting with the  Esther and her family. So often in the book I kept asking myself, why??? As she continued to cut off her friends and family, drowning her sorrows in alcohol and the arms of strangers. 

Despite personalities being driven by past trauma, I didn't find Esther or her mother particularly likeable, and I couldn't resonate with them. The settings are beautiful but I found this book a challenge to get through in parts.

The premise of mixing fairytale, mythology, landscape and culture into the story of death, loss, grief was interesting but for me it just didn't pull together as well as it could... At 549 pages it's long, and many parts I think we're not explained well enough to engage the reasoning and others were overly long and involved...

I wanted to live this .. but unfortunately...