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debsd 's review for:
The Secret Place
by Tana French
3.5* but after writing my review, I'm thinking of pushing it up to 4.
As is the usual pattern in this series, French reprises one of the characters from a previous book to become the narrator, while also bringing back other characters (who were sometimes narrators themselves) to play other roles. This is a great device that draws the books together without ever allowing them to become repetitive or formulaic.
I did not enjoy this book as much as I've enjoyed the others, but that's not to say this is of a lower standard - it's not. French's writing is as sharp as ever, she holds together a detailed narrative, and her characters are as complex and believable as ever. I think what didn't quite click with me on this one is that it has something of the vibe of the "young adult" genre (a tag that makes me hesitant to put any book on my to-read list).
That said, this is a long way from the things I often complain about regarding YA novels (shallow writing, the stereotyped characters, the meaningless storylines). However I found the teenage angst and bitchiness distracting, and sometimes, especially in the early chapters, I found it difficult to distinguish the various teenage girls and which group of friends they belonged to. But maybe that was deliberate? Maybe that's how teenagers are often seen by adults? - as "all the same" until they do something specific to make them stand out as individuals? Certainly my feelings on the "supernatural" aspect - not the supposed sightings of the ghost, which I found completely credible (old buildings, teenagers, first - for most of them - close-up experience of death) but the girls being able to do things like shatter lightbulbs by the power of concentration - my feelings on this were changed when I read French's comment: "I think one of the core things about adolescence is that reality is fluid - it's defined more by the world shared between you and your closest friends than by the outside world." Suddenly this made more sense to me, I was reminded that we are always being shown events from inside the characters' reality, and that these particular characters are, in more complex ways than most, unreliable narrators.
I think one of French's strengths is that there is so much below-the-surface commentary in her books - I haven't yet re-read any of the series (because there are more in the series, so I have to read those first, of course!) but I do think they'll bear re-reading.
As is the usual pattern in this series, French reprises one of the characters from a previous book to become the narrator, while also bringing back other characters (who were sometimes narrators themselves) to play other roles. This is a great device that draws the books together without ever allowing them to become repetitive or formulaic.
I did not enjoy this book as much as I've enjoyed the others, but that's not to say this is of a lower standard - it's not. French's writing is as sharp as ever, she holds together a detailed narrative, and her characters are as complex and believable as ever. I think what didn't quite click with me on this one is that it has something of the vibe of the "young adult" genre (a tag that makes me hesitant to put any book on my to-read list).
That said, this is a long way from the things I often complain about regarding YA novels (shallow writing, the stereotyped characters, the meaningless storylines). However I found the teenage angst and bitchiness distracting, and sometimes, especially in the early chapters, I found it difficult to distinguish the various teenage girls and which group of friends they belonged to. But maybe that was deliberate? Maybe that's how teenagers are often seen by adults? - as "all the same" until they do something specific to make them stand out as individuals? Certainly my feelings on the "supernatural" aspect - not the supposed sightings of the ghost, which I found completely credible (old buildings, teenagers, first - for most of them - close-up experience of death) but the girls being able to do things like shatter lightbulbs by the power of concentration - my feelings on this were changed when I read French's comment: "I think one of the core things about adolescence is that reality is fluid - it's defined more by the world shared between you and your closest friends than by the outside world." Suddenly this made more sense to me, I was reminded that we are always being shown events from inside the characters' reality, and that these particular characters are, in more complex ways than most, unreliable narrators.
I think one of French's strengths is that there is so much below-the-surface commentary in her books - I haven't yet re-read any of the series (because there are more in the series, so I have to read those first, of course!) but I do think they'll bear re-reading.