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tomhill 's review for:
The Witch Elm
by Tana French
I made it halfway through Tana French's The Likeness and gave up because nothing had happened yet, nothing interesting at least. Plus there was the very implausible plot, and the central characters who were all less interesting versions of the central group from The Secret History. This book was more engaging, even if it did take about as long for the main mystery to get underway. I like books that deal with a past that the central character can't remember. It's fun to watch a character puzzle out that mystery. I feel like every character here though was about half as developed as they could be. There's a lot of potential in Toby and his cousins and his uncle, but ultimately they just aren't as fully formed as I would have liked, especially for such a long book. I also really disliked the final act of this book, which is the kind of twist some people will like, but to me seemed unnecessary and a bit out of character for the particular character involved, although I think that French means it to be the exact opposite. Of course, there's a lot of good stuff too, definitely a page-turner, and I would imagine better than many other thrillers out there.