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ailsabristow 's review for:
Some Kind of Fairy Tale
by Graham Joyce
Listened on Audiobook.
This book follows the story of Tara, a teenager who went missing in the 1980s and then remerges twenty years later with a fantastical story of what has happened to her.
Tara's story - that she has only been away six months, that she was taken by the fae (although they vehemently reject the label of fairy) - sends her family into a tailspin. The book becomes a mediation on truth and memory. Is Tara lying or does she believe what she is saying is true? Does her story contain guideposts to the state of her psyche (the theory put forward by the psychologist her brother pays for her to see)? Or, most radical theory of all, could Tara's tale be real?
The concept behind this book is really interesting: I liked Joyce's version of the Fae, who are essentially human-sized sexual libertines, much closer to their trickster ancestors than our current sugar-sweet conception of fairies. But somehow, despite the strength of the concept, I found the sections that dealt with Tara's visit somehow unsatisfying. This thread is just one of many, and I found Joyce lacked the space to really let this alternative world come to life, and breathe.
I did also enjoy how so much of this book was about the impact that Tara's disappearance had on those around her, particularly the family drama of her now 40-something brother Stephen. (I particularly enjoyed the subplot about Stephen's son, Jack). In fact this felt like where Joyce's true interest lay, in unfolding minute telling details about the compromises and comforts of living in a family.
When I was thinking about what rating to give this book I had to remind myself that 2 stars means "it's ok" - and that's really how I felt about this book. I couldn't love it - but it was ok. Coincidentally I mostly listen to audiobooks when I'm knitting, and sometimes an "ok" book that doesn't demand too much of me is in fact perfect for this, as I need to be engaged in thinking about what I'm doing. So - I'm happy to have listened to this book, but not a lifechanger for me.
This book follows the story of Tara, a teenager who went missing in the 1980s and then remerges twenty years later with a fantastical story of what has happened to her.
The concept behind this book is really interesting: I liked Joyce's version of the Fae, who are essentially human-sized sexual libertines, much closer to their trickster ancestors than our current sugar-sweet conception of fairies. But somehow, despite the strength of the concept, I found the sections that dealt with Tara's visit somehow unsatisfying. This thread is just one of many, and I found Joyce lacked the space to really let this alternative world come to life, and breathe.
I did also enjoy how so much of this book was about the impact that Tara's disappearance had on those around her, particularly the family drama of her now 40-something brother Stephen. (I particularly enjoyed the subplot about Stephen's son, Jack). In fact this felt like where Joyce's true interest lay, in unfolding minute telling details about the compromises and comforts of living in a family.
When I was thinking about what rating to give this book I had to remind myself that 2 stars means "it's ok" - and that's really how I felt about this book. I couldn't love it - but it was ok. Coincidentally I mostly listen to audiobooks when I'm knitting, and sometimes an "ok" book that doesn't demand too much of me is in fact perfect for this, as I need to be engaged in thinking about what I'm doing. So - I'm happy to have listened to this book, but not a lifechanger for me.