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A review by lostlenore_
The Haunting of Brynn Wilder by Wendy Webb
3.0
This had been a quite different book from the ones I generally pick to read and the reason is that I expected a gothic ghost story and I got a contemporary novel that blurs the boundary of reality and death to talk about grief, death, and the agony of living through a disease, both as a victim and a caretaker.
I think that many things in this novel could have been better like the worldbuilding which didn't add to the atmosphere of the book or the depth of the characters. The subtext was the most interesting point for me--you understood what the heroine wanted to do and how she felt because the narrator simply left things out. I'm used to much more elaborate reads and I don't think it's always a solid way to establish your characters by simply omitting pivotal info about their psyche and motives but I guess the readership for this book would have loved it just the way it is. It's a cozy contemporary American gothic-ish read.
It's a thematically impeccable novel with lots of discussion about life and death. It's a very quick read too (if you take out some parts of Act 2 where we simply learned about the cuisine of the town and the happy hour events) and it's LGBT+ inclusive as well.
What I admire about Wendy Webb's prose is her simplicity and ability to talk about middle age so acutely. I think, were I in my 40s I'd appreciate this book more.
Let me just say that I'll possibly read another book by Wendy Webb because I still remember the amazing tale of Halcyon Crane and I know that, possibly, with this book, she wanted to talk about something else, which has touched me, but not so fully as I'd have wanted.
I think that many things in this novel could have been better like the worldbuilding which didn't add to the atmosphere of the book or the depth of the characters. The subtext was the most interesting point for me--you understood what the heroine wanted to do and how she felt because the narrator simply left things out. I'm used to much more elaborate reads and I don't think it's always a solid way to establish your characters by simply omitting pivotal info about their psyche and motives but I guess the readership for this book would have loved it just the way it is. It's a cozy contemporary American gothic-ish read.
It's a thematically impeccable novel with lots of discussion about life and death. It's a very quick read too (if you take out some parts of Act 2 where we simply learned about the cuisine of the town and the happy hour events) and it's LGBT+ inclusive as well.
What I admire about Wendy Webb's prose is her simplicity and ability to talk about middle age so acutely. I think, were I in my 40s I'd appreciate this book more.
Let me just say that I'll possibly read another book by Wendy Webb because I still remember the amazing tale of Halcyon Crane and I know that, possibly, with this book, she wanted to talk about something else, which has touched me, but not so fully as I'd have wanted.