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inkedwxtchreads 's review for:
The Dark Between The Trees
by Fiona Barnett
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Oh man…. Thank god I’m free. I mean it in the nicest way possible. This book almost destroyed reading for me, and I feel terrible about that as it’s a debut in this genre at the least. I truly did think I’d like it. It was a 5 star prediction! On paper I should have loved it. Folk horror, creatures, and an ever changing forest! What’s not to like?
I’ll keep this short, and say the main issue is that the author made this sooooo painfully boring. Like literally I think I got a migraine from how bored I was at one point. Literally nothing happened that was even remotely interesting ever.
The pacing genuinely made me feel like I was in my own personal hell. And that’s saying something because I usually love a slow burn. 95% of this was literally two timelines of characters just walking around and talking about the trees.
With the creature in this I think there was supposed to be a feeling of being stalked and an atmosphere of otherness. But the author just didn’t deliver because it was always interrupted by really long drawn out and unnecessary dialogue or stream of consciousness. I wanted to skim so badly.
The cast in both timelines was also HUGE and the author just made it so confusing because she tried to flesh them out but at the same time I really couldn’t tell you anything about anymore than 3 out of like 20 of them.
The last 5% started to get interesting but the ending was soooo unsatisfying.
If this author spent less time talking about the trees or did something a little different with the past timeline, this could have been so interesting. It had the makings to be great, it just failed in literally every way.
I never rate things this low unless they’re offensive or I literally have nothing positive to say….. so there’s that.
Not sure I’ll write this author off completely but I definitely won’t rush to read her next book. This literally took me most of the month to read. I kept hoping it would get better or the answers to everything would make it worth it. I’m so let down.
I’ll keep this short, and say the main issue is that the author made this sooooo painfully boring. Like literally I think I got a migraine from how bored I was at one point. Literally nothing happened that was even remotely interesting ever.
The pacing genuinely made me feel like I was in my own personal hell. And that’s saying something because I usually love a slow burn. 95% of this was literally two timelines of characters just walking around and talking about the trees.
With the creature in this I think there was supposed to be a feeling of being stalked and an atmosphere of otherness. But the author just didn’t deliver because it was always interrupted by really long drawn out and unnecessary dialogue or stream of consciousness. I wanted to skim so badly.
The cast in both timelines was also HUGE and the author just made it so confusing because she tried to flesh them out but at the same time I really couldn’t tell you anything about anymore than 3 out of like 20 of them.
The last 5% started to get interesting but the ending was soooo unsatisfying.
If this author spent less time talking about the trees or did something a little different with the past timeline, this could have been so interesting. It had the makings to be great, it just failed in literally every way.
I never rate things this low unless they’re offensive or I literally have nothing positive to say….. so there’s that.
Not sure I’ll write this author off completely but I definitely won’t rush to read her next book. This literally took me most of the month to read. I kept hoping it would get better or the answers to everything would make it worth it. I’m so let down.