Emily's Reviews > The Tale of Halcyon Crane
The Tale of Halcyon Crane
by
by
Ok so I didn't hate this, but I also only got to about page 133 and decided I just don't have enough time to waste on a book that constantly makes me roll my eyes and forces me to think about all the other books I would rather be reading. Yeah. That about sums this story up.
Let's talk for a second about predictability and how this usually happens in books about 'the mysterious beyond.' And the mysterious beyond is really just my fancy-pants way of saying this book is about ghosts. Yawn. What it's SUPPOSED to be about (and what the jacket cover promised) is a mystery about a girl who was taken from her home when she was five and presumed dead by all, including her clueless mother, until one day she returns to the island to discover her past. Hallie (or Halcyon, which was her original name and by the way--why does no one ever explain what kind of name THAT is?) finds her mother has left her a beautiful victorian home (which is described in the most bland, young adult-style description ever), a creepy maid (who wears sensible shoes, apparently) and a whole lot of weird business involving angry towns-folk and of course, ghosts.
The story in and of itself is predictable beyond measure. I can already see exactly how this is going to play out which is why I stopped reading it and will be donating it to my local library for some other poor soul to pick up and then put down in mild annoyance again. I am now predicting the fate of this book. SPOOKY.
The writing style is--well...blah. As you read through you sort of get the idea that this author has taken a lot of writing and composition courses that teach you how to form basic, decently structured sentences that convey the point so well that they slam you over the head with it repeatedly. Remember that whole 'Say it, don't show it' thing they always teach in writing 101? Well. She might have missed that day.
Here's a lovely little sentence that sums up how the entire novel is written. In reference to her feelings for one of equally ridiculous romantic interests she writes, "I couldn't quite figure him out, but I knew one thing: There was no chemistry between us. Not anything like what I felt when I was with Will. No, Jonah and I were destined to be friends and nothing more."
Seriously? It's just such a juvenile way of TELLING the point, which I already got a few sentences earlier from her reaction to the guy trying to invite her home. Which alright, she just got on this island and literally the second she meets these two people who are described as "handsome" with "sandy blond hair" and "electric blue eyes" with "an athletes build" (which what does that even mean? What kind of athlete? A slim one? A body builder? Bane from Batman?) they all immediately fall in love with her and she has to waste a whole page trying to figure out who she's more interested in. You know, never mind the ghosts and the whole dead mother thing. Also I have zero idea what the main character herself looks like except that brown hair seems to be involved and that, predictably, she's the 'spitting image of her mother' which would help except the mother is ALSO never described.
At this point I could really give a crap about the "mystery" involving Hallie being taken away from her mother when she was five. I'm assuming it has to do with ghosts in the house and her mother being able to see them. Something else about a little girl dying which I'm also going to predict did not involve Hallie's father after all but was the result of a ghostly encounter. What would be actually surprising is if her mother was a total psychopath after all and she did it but I doubt it. Because that would involve creative thinking which is clearly not happening in this book.
Between the lacking and annoyingly predictable plot, the character development that clearly isn't going to happen ever, and the irritating descriptions of rooms that just feels way too much like how you're taught to describe something in elementary school, I give up. Example: "We walked through enormous double doors and into a hallway lined with dark wood paneling. A candle chandelier, similar to the one at Madlyn's house, blazed in the foyer, bathing the room in soft flickering light. A bar stood to the left, where several men were enjoying what I assumed were predinner cocktailes."
You assumed they were predinner cocktails? Why would your character even bother to try to figure that out? Men. In a bar. Drinking. OH IT MUST BE PREDINNER SINCE CLEARLY NO ONE HAS EATEN YET. What. The author throws these sort of stupid, unnecessary observations in every few sentences which just make me want to strangle someone.
So, I give up on this one but I'm considering it read since you can figure out the entire plot by about page 20. Moving on.
Let's talk for a second about predictability and how this usually happens in books about 'the mysterious beyond.' And the mysterious beyond is really just my fancy-pants way of saying this book is about ghosts. Yawn. What it's SUPPOSED to be about (and what the jacket cover promised) is a mystery about a girl who was taken from her home when she was five and presumed dead by all, including her clueless mother, until one day she returns to the island to discover her past. Hallie (or Halcyon, which was her original name and by the way--why does no one ever explain what kind of name THAT is?) finds her mother has left her a beautiful victorian home (which is described in the most bland, young adult-style description ever), a creepy maid (who wears sensible shoes, apparently) and a whole lot of weird business involving angry towns-folk and of course, ghosts.
The story in and of itself is predictable beyond measure. I can already see exactly how this is going to play out which is why I stopped reading it and will be donating it to my local library for some other poor soul to pick up and then put down in mild annoyance again. I am now predicting the fate of this book. SPOOKY.
The writing style is--well...blah. As you read through you sort of get the idea that this author has taken a lot of writing and composition courses that teach you how to form basic, decently structured sentences that convey the point so well that they slam you over the head with it repeatedly. Remember that whole 'Say it, don't show it' thing they always teach in writing 101? Well. She might have missed that day.
Here's a lovely little sentence that sums up how the entire novel is written. In reference to her feelings for one of equally ridiculous romantic interests she writes, "I couldn't quite figure him out, but I knew one thing: There was no chemistry between us. Not anything like what I felt when I was with Will. No, Jonah and I were destined to be friends and nothing more."
Seriously? It's just such a juvenile way of TELLING the point, which I already got a few sentences earlier from her reaction to the guy trying to invite her home. Which alright, she just got on this island and literally the second she meets these two people who are described as "handsome" with "sandy blond hair" and "electric blue eyes" with "an athletes build" (which what does that even mean? What kind of athlete? A slim one? A body builder? Bane from Batman?) they all immediately fall in love with her and she has to waste a whole page trying to figure out who she's more interested in. You know, never mind the ghosts and the whole dead mother thing. Also I have zero idea what the main character herself looks like except that brown hair seems to be involved and that, predictably, she's the 'spitting image of her mother' which would help except the mother is ALSO never described.
At this point I could really give a crap about the "mystery" involving Hallie being taken away from her mother when she was five. I'm assuming it has to do with ghosts in the house and her mother being able to see them. Something else about a little girl dying which I'm also going to predict did not involve Hallie's father after all but was the result of a ghostly encounter. What would be actually surprising is if her mother was a total psychopath after all and she did it but I doubt it. Because that would involve creative thinking which is clearly not happening in this book.
Between the lacking and annoyingly predictable plot, the character development that clearly isn't going to happen ever, and the irritating descriptions of rooms that just feels way too much like how you're taught to describe something in elementary school, I give up. Example: "We walked through enormous double doors and into a hallway lined with dark wood paneling. A candle chandelier, similar to the one at Madlyn's house, blazed in the foyer, bathing the room in soft flickering light. A bar stood to the left, where several men were enjoying what I assumed were predinner cocktailes."
You assumed they were predinner cocktails? Why would your character even bother to try to figure that out? Men. In a bar. Drinking. OH IT MUST BE PREDINNER SINCE CLEARLY NO ONE HAS EATEN YET. What. The author throws these sort of stupid, unnecessary observations in every few sentences which just make me want to strangle someone.
So, I give up on this one but I'm considering it read since you can figure out the entire plot by about page 20. Moving on.
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Reading Progress
Started Reading
August 24, 2012
– Shelved
August 24, 2012
–
Finished Reading