I didn’t enjoy the writing style of this at all: it was pretty stilted and dry and for a novel that’s supposed to be character-driven, we were kept atI didn’t enjoy the writing style of this at all: it was pretty stilted and dry and for a novel that’s supposed to be character-driven, we were kept at such arms-length from the characters that it just didn’t work. The sense of place was original but bogged down in excessive and repetitive descriptions.
I didn’t care for the religion, the history felt wafer-thin, and I didn’t feel any emotional connection to the characters at all. The overall feel was underdeveloped. ...more
I’m including a content advisory below that I’m not putting behind spoiler tags. If I’d known it was a core part of the plot, I wouldn’t have botheredI’m including a content advisory below that I’m not putting behind spoiler tags. If I’d known it was a core part of the plot, I wouldn’t have bothered with this book and think it’s important enough to mention to the Goodreads community. If you’re not interesting in plot spoilers, please don’t read this review. ...more
2.5 I remember enjoying the first book in the series, was less impressed with the second, and found this the most lukewarm of the lot. I’m not convinc2.5 I remember enjoying the first book in the series, was less impressed with the second, and found this the most lukewarm of the lot. I’m not convinced this story needed a sequel, much less a trilogy.
3.5 The minute I started this book, a huge downpour rolled in off the Firth of Clyde which was, to say the least, atmospheric!
Boasting a stunning cov3.5 The minute I started this book, a huge downpour rolled in off the Firth of Clyde which was, to say the least, atmospheric!
Boasting a stunning cover, That Beautiful Atlantic Waltz is an intimate slice-of-life featuring a quiet, older man living on Shetland.
While, at times, I struggled with the slow pace and the references to oldies country music, this book has a tremendous sense of time and place. The setting of Shetland comes alive as we spend time with Jack and in this wee community. Jack’s story is interspersed with some of the song lyrics he’d written, which was a nice touch. I particularly enjoyed watching Jack warm to Loretta and his sweet friendship with Valia.
This book is a charming character study beautiful illustrating that even the quietest lives can be extraordinary.
I was privileged to have my request to read this book accepted through NetGalley. Thank you so much, Canongate!...more
3.5The Witching proves that the Cooke who captured our attention with The Lighthouse Witches and The Ghost Woods is back and just in time for spooky 3.5The Witching proves that the Cooke who captured our attention with The Lighthouse Witches and The Ghost Woods is back and just in time for spooky season with this one slated to hit the shelves in October! ...more
What I noticed: • I loved the cover • For a book proclaiming scandal and intrigue in Victorian Glasgow, this was pretty tame. I kept2.5 This was… fine.
What I noticed: • I loved the cover • For a book proclaiming scandal and intrigue in Victorian Glasgow, this was pretty tame. I kept expecting something shocking to happen or to have some juicy conflict… but it didn’t. The events in this book were all really surface-level and (view spoiler)[everything ends well for the “good” characters while the “bad” get their comeuppance. (hide spoiler)] • The characters were sympathetic and it was easy to cheer them on, especially Charlotte. I just can’t help but feel it’s the same-old same-old about downtrodden women in olden times narrative that’s been done to death. • Speaking of olden times, this is a book filled with coincidences and people ready and willing to go up against society. It’s completely unbelievable for the period it’s set in and requires a significant suspension of disbelief to read. • I could have done without the (view spoiler)[ secret sister “twist” and the why-is-my-betrothed-with-a-beautiful-woman trope (hide spoiler)] • This had more romance in it than I was expecting • I felt the sense of place was lacking. I feel like it could’ve been set anywhere in the UK. While we kept getting Glaswegian landmarks and streets thrown at us, it didn’t feel real. I wasn’t transported to Glasgow the way I’d hoped • There was something significantly wonky about some of the typesetting in the book: different justifications, font sizes, and kerning in whole paragraphs! It was sloppy and jarring.
I can see this appealing to the commercial historic fiction market but it felt too unrealistic, too surface level, and a touch too vanilla for my taste....more
I had it in my head this was dark academia… but it really wasn’t. The University element was largely absent. OvLet down by a cool cover design. Sigh.
I had it in my head this was dark academia… but it really wasn’t. The University element was largely absent. Overall, this was so underwhelming. The characters were awful people. The pacing was off. There was no sense of urgency. It was far too long. It was gross. I couldn’t understand what was driving Tabitha or Clare apart from the all-men-are-bastards flavour of “feminism” that drives me up the wall.
Apart from feeling vaguely nauseous, I got nothing from this....more
**spoiler alert** Oh wow, I took a chance on this Scottish Book of the Month but did not like it at all: 1.5
Greg and Joanne are ridiculous. The “relat**spoiler alert** Oh wow, I took a chance on this Scottish Book of the Month but did not like it at all: 1.5
Greg and Joanne are ridiculous. The “relationship” is contrived and inauthentic from go. There’s far too much gratuitous sex at the beginning and neither characters are developed enough for me to care about them at all. So, as a result, what we get is chapters and chapters of the pair of them rutting like deer and putting me off my lunch.
Greg carried major incel vibes with this inner commentary on “females” and his sex-obsessed outlook. His only personality trait seemed to be “randy” and, quite frankly, he was gross. I also got the impression that he was like, sixty, and was surprised that he was actually thirty?!
Joanne was non-descript and boring. Caroline was a caricature (and I had her figured out far too early on).
The storyline was flimsy as hell too: - Joanne randomly deciding to go to rural Scotland with some dude she just met, because “sex” - All the villagers lying and covering for each other - The villainization of Ailsa put a damper on the mystery of her death and made me ambivalent to its resolution - How the police fucked up the original investigation of Ailsa’s disappearance - Greg tormenting himself over spreading the virus (Greg was selfish and this didn’t seem plausible) - How everyone, bar Caroline, was pro-Joanne - Why were all these women obsessed with Greg? He was so boring and creepy
The pace was glacial and the whole story felt claustrophobic (but not in an intentional way). There was far too much padding in this book and because we had such a limited cast of characters, the ending was too easy to figure out to sit through all the faff. Not a lot of time seemed to pass between the Greg/Joanne thing which made the baby, insta-love, and ending totally naff. The domestic violence element felt shoehorned in like an afterthought. I think it was supposed to make us feel badly for Joanne but it didn’t feel plausible either and, let’s be honest, she could’ve handled it a bit better (like, I don’t know, LEAVING THE AREA WHEN YOU REALIZED YOUR PARTNER’S MATE WAS NEXT DOOR? But no, she waited to get caught. Ugh.)
What I liked: - The use of setting as character was well done. - Distinct characterizations and personali2.5
This was a lot bleaker than I was expecting
What I liked: - The use of setting as character was well done. - Distinct characterizations and personalities of each character including side characters and deceased characters. - An ambitious plot - A bunny paradise! - The genre-spanning appeal of the book as a whole - A beautiful cover - I learned about hooded crows
What I didn’t like: - It was too bleak. The island, the weather, the atmosphere, the tension, it was just a bit too grim and hopeless feeling. - The Maggie/Will thing. Once the ending was revealed this became super uncomfortable (and it was already weird). I feel like this relationship would have been far more impactful as a friendship. - The pace was very slow but, towards the end, the book was trying to do too much too quickly. After such a slow pace, the ending was needlessly convoluted and rushed. - The death-of-a-parent subplot. This was too much to read on the day of my Grandad’s funeral (and I will say this and the high amount of human and animal death might have been one of the reasons I didn’t enjoy the book. I was already feeling shite and the bleakness made me feel worse.)
On balance, I had many of the same quarrels with this book as with Mirrorland. I don’t think I will pursue future reads by the author....more
I was intrigued enough to pick up the Scottish Book of the Month for September. Forensic cleaning has fascinated me since I read an interview with 2.5
I was intrigued enough to pick up the Scottish Book of the Month for September. Forensic cleaning has fascinated me since I read an interview with some forensic cleaners in Time Out years ago. The beginning of this book had a lot of detail about what it entails but the emotionally void MC sucked any interest right out of it. She managed to make it boring, methodical, and checklisty.
The MC was part of the reason I didn’t enjoy this as much as I’d hoped. She was one dimensional, odd, off-putting, and unsympathetic. The writing style was stilted and keep the reader at arm’s length throughout the book. Of course, this also created a very slow pace. While the writing was accessible, the story and writing weren’t compelling enough to outweigh it and there were times I just couldn’t bring myself to keep reading. Simply put, it was boring. The whole book is a long road to a short cliche.
I don’t like this trend in thrillers of (view spoiler)[ vigilant killers. As Phil says when he loses it with the MC, you don’t have the right to play judge, jury, and executioner. There are processes and laws in place. (hide spoiler)] I also found the MC’s reasons for doing this suspect. She was clearly deeply damaged if she’d sold herself the lie she did around her rationale. All in all, it was a (view spoiler)[ “twist” (hide spoiler)] that I really could have lived without. The MC was too distant and boring to pull it off. I’m actually really annoyed that (view spoiler)[ the MC was a “vigilant killer” because I literally put a book down in the bookshop on the day I bought this one for being just that! If I’d known, I probably wouldn’t have bothered with this either. (hide spoiler)]
What I did enjoy about the book was the sense of place: Glasgow, the Clyde Coast, Bute… they all had a great sense of place. Bute was probably the best of the lot!
All in all, I don’t think I’d recommend this. There are a lot of graphic details and deaths that may be quite upsetting if you’ve lost someone....more
I was delighted to discover that, unbeknownst to me, this book was exactly what I was in the mood for!
I picked this up based on the cover art and b4.5
I was delighted to discover that, unbeknownst to me, this book was exactly what I was in the mood for!
I picked this up based on the cover art and bought it because I enjoyed the author’s dystopian story, “A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World” and I was not disappointed. This is a Scottish folk horror with an artfully fleshed out cast, a delicious slow-burn that utterly transports the reader to a remote Scottish island. This was one of the more immersive books I’ve read this year for sure.
(view spoiler)[I’d be really interested to know how our ragtag band of survivors are going to explain recent events when the ferry eventually does arrive! (hide spoiler)]...more
The premise of this was intriguing but the story got a bit too bogged down in the details to make it totally enjoyable: the pace was slow, there was wThe premise of this was intriguing but the story got a bit too bogged down in the details to make it totally enjoyable: the pace was slow, there was way too much focus on police process, and I didn’t particularly care for any of the characters.
This is fourth in a series. I’ve not read any of the others but I didn’t feel I was missing anything from that perspective.
I love stories about wolves and reintroducing them to Scotland but this was too much police process and not enough, well, everything else. ...more
Despite some glaring geographical errors in Scotland, a host of vacuous and awful characters, and the fact that London Zoo does not have pumas, an engDespite some glaring geographical errors in Scotland, a host of vacuous and awful characters, and the fact that London Zoo does not have pumas, an engaging and interesting story for a Sunday afternoon. ...more
This was different to what I was expecting. It was bleak, violent, and upsetting but also a tale of resilience and family.
I think the book suffered fThis was different to what I was expecting. It was bleak, violent, and upsetting but also a tale of resilience and family.
I think the book suffered from the distraction of too many threads. We had at least four different viewpoints (some obvious, some opaque) and I had a hard time determining who was connected to which families and characters. I enjoyed Viviane and Ruth’s stories the most as they were the most flushed out.
Ultimately, this is an okay book. The atmosphere of coastal Scotland was well done and the ever-looming presence of The Bass Rock was sinister which added a creepiness; but, the story is let down by too many tangled character threads, a lacklustre ending, and the relentless violent undercurrent throughout. ...more
This started out very slowly, was very confusing, and a lot more ‘piratey’ than I was expecting. Once we got to part two though, mWhat a strange book…
This started out very slowly, was very confusing, and a lot more ‘piratey’ than I was expecting. Once we got to part two though, my engagement increased significantly.
While a much better second half, this book had one too many “twists” that got more and more outlandish as time went on. (view spoiler)[ Ellice orchestrating her death and framing Ross, the shock of El being alive, and Mouse being a third sister spun this completely off the deep-end for me. (hide spoiler)]. The story has enough “gotchas” by the time we (view spoiler)[ saw Ross convicted. (hide spoiler)]. Everything thereafter just felt implausible and kind of silly.
The characters were all pretty awful. The truth about the (view spoiler)[grandfather (hide spoiler)] was appalling. (view spoiler)[ Speaking of, I also don’t understand why Mouse had to be the third sister. If the grandfather had also fathered Mouse with the Witch as the mother, surely the DNA thread would still work? While horrific, I just think that would have been a better explanation than the tired “third twin” trope. (hide spoiler)]
If the beginning had been edited a bit more and a few of those “twists” cut out, this could have been a five star book. The writing is well done, the pacing is pretty good, and the latter half a engaging read....more
I know why this book is compared to Pine, it has a similar dread and foreboding at times. The only thing that stopped this bein3.5 Strange and spooky!
I know why this book is compared to Pine, it has a similar dread and foreboding at times. The only thing that stopped this being a five-star book for me was the pacing issues: the first half of the book moves so slowly and the story gets a bit bogged down in descriptions. It picks up just over halfway though and I found the second half much more enjoyable.
I have a fair few questions about the ending but that’s definitely by design. Ultimately, this is a spooky, atmospheric book that will keep you guessing....more
I was excited to read this but, my gosh, am I ever disappointed.
The writing in this book is dreadful. The sentence fragments, bizarre choice of wordsI was excited to read this but, my gosh, am I ever disappointed.
The writing in this book is dreadful. The sentence fragments, bizarre choice of words, incorrect grammar, and wildly inappropriate period dialogue was so jarring, I opened a note to capture some of the more bizarre quotes:
“I keep house here.” [odd way of saying “I’m the housekeeper.”]
“How long since the last one left?” [re: previous nanny. Fragment. People do not talk like this, especially in 1860!]
“I am accustomed to the response it brings.” [re: facial scars. Very odd choice of phrasing]
“My sisters death took her very hard.” [Say what?]
Mary did not smile but there was a flicker of something I moulded into pleasure. [This doesn’t even make sense.]
Mary glanced back up and seemed to assess me and then, the smallest curve of pleasure crept on to her lips. [Odd way of saying “She smiled”. Even if it was a hint of smile, there are many clearer ways this can be described.]
“Was it you who made the preparations to my room?” [Odd phrasing of “Did you get my room ready?” At this stage, it seems like the author is deliberately, and badly, trying to pad sentence dialogue.]
“I am sad to learn of what happened to William. I have wondered what the accident was by which he died.” [Another sentence fragment and exceptionally clunky dialogue choice. People do not talk like this. It doesn’t even make sense and reads like a bad translation!]
The house was small and homely, smelling of something newly baked. [vague and manages to make fresh baking feel utterly bland]
“Does she often speak with no sense when she is in sleep?” [Does she often talk in her sleep?]
I stopped capturing stupid sentences around page 40 for my own sanity. Part of my day job is editing copy and this was beyond triggering. I don’t know if the author was trying (and failing spectacularly) at being “arty”, but so many sentences were fragmented and awkward, the meaning was utterly lost!
The language choices in this book were straight out of elementary school: everything was bland, non-descript, and dull. Overuse of basic, non-descriptive words: I am sad. This is sad. That is sad. (view spoiler)[at one point, someone is describing the death of a family member and the most the MC can respond with is “That is sad”. (hide spoiler)] Also, vibrating. A whole host of people and objects were “vibrating”, usually directing this at the MC.
The characters were cardboard and boring. No one had any personality, they weren’t described in detail so the faceless dolls were apt as that’s pretty much exactly how I pictured them. The relationships did not feel genuine. No one behaved in a manner fitting to the period. Actions, speech, items, and behaviour were historically inaccurate to the point of distraction.
The MC was an idiot. She was so unsympathetic: meddling, condescending, and self-obsessed. Yet, somehow, at the same time entirely void of characterization or personality.
I wondered what had so early drawn her displeasure but perhaps it was jealousy of my elevated status or the fact that my occupancy would cause extra work. [re: asking a low-ranking staff member something she’s been told not to discuss. Hmmm, maybe it’s because you’re a nosy cow that has lived here for five minutes and is already putting on airs and trying to stir the pot? The internal monologuing and lack of self-awareness of the MC is tedious as hell.
There was no sense of time or place in this book. It could have been set in any time period in any place. The setting of a (fake?!) Scottish island was underutilized when it could have featured so prominently and been a key part of the story. What a wasted opportunity.
The ending was ridiculous and rendered most of the book (and the tedious stream of consciousness of the MC) irrelevant. Given how slow and clunky the book was, the ending would have had to have been pretty spectacular to make it worthwhile and it wasn’t.
Perhaps there is a good book here and in the hands of a more adept writer, could have been flushed out…
Oh, wait! It already has! This book is a badly written mash-up of The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell, The Nesting by CJ Cooke, The Story Keeper by Anna Mazzola, and Florence and Giles by John Harding Read these books instead and give this a miss.
Once again, I am appalled by the lack of competency in the editing and publishing arenas. Given how many talented writers have already written this story (as above), publishing drivel like this just dilutes the genre and lowers the bar: the world doesn’t need more mediocrity. Ugh....more