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A review by shelby1994
Faithful Place by Tana French
challenging
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Everyone else needs to stop writing jaded detective stories because no one can do it like Tana French and as a society we just need to accept that and move on.
Going into Faithful Place (#3 in the Dublin Murder Squad), I tempered my expectations a bit because I had heard that the mystery in this one takes a back seat to the family drama. But after finishing this, it turns out who needs a detailed mystery when you have so much GENERATIONAL TRAUMA to unpack? Not your girl! Y'all know I live for a messy family story, and this delivers that in spades. Plus, Tana continues to capture pre-Great Recession Irish class dynamics in a way that (IMO) clearly paved the road for Sally Rooney to do her thing in Normal People.
Like most of French's mysteries, content warnings are in abundance, but I would particularly highlight CWs for domestic abuse in this one - maybe stay clear of this particular installment if that's a trigger for you.
Also, you can read this book as a standalone!
Going into Faithful Place (#3 in the Dublin Murder Squad), I tempered my expectations a bit because I had heard that the mystery in this one takes a back seat to the family drama. But after finishing this, it turns out who needs a detailed mystery when you have so much GENERATIONAL TRAUMA to unpack? Not your girl! Y'all know I live for a messy family story, and this delivers that in spades. Plus, Tana continues to capture pre-Great Recession Irish class dynamics in a way that (IMO) clearly paved the road for Sally Rooney to do her thing in Normal People.
Like most of French's mysteries, content warnings are in abundance, but I would particularly highlight CWs for domestic abuse in this one - maybe stay clear of this particular installment if that's a trigger for you.
Also, you can read this book as a standalone!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse