enchantressreads's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Blood, and Death
pvbobrien's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Body horror, Emotional abuse, and Blood
Minor: Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Death of parent, and Violence
litty_lydi's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
“Don’t remember limping home through the trees, believing them empty.
They were always full of ghosts.
You were already becoming one.”
Bettina Scott has spent the past few years living a relatively simple, some may say "mundane" life. After her father and brother left suddenly one night she has been attached to her mothers side, trying to be the perfect daughter and perfect lady, as her mother has taught her. One day, Bettina receives a letter, and a sign that makes her realize that her brothers and father may be out there, and they may need help. Bringing along two old friends, Gary and Trish, they seek out answers to what happened that night her family disappeared and find out that not everything, or everyone, is as it seems.
The story of Flyaway unravels through the first person perspective of Petunia, with inserted short stories about the legends and creatures that haunt their town. Jenning's prose are excellent and easily suck you into the haunting landscape that is the Inglewell bush. The legends/stories that are told set continue to build on that atmosphere with tales that would be told around the campfire, or by parents to keep their children out of the woods.
This set-up is both a fault and a merit of the story. It certainly adds to the creepy atmosphere, but in the beginning can be very confusing. There are quite a few names that need to be remembered for the story to really make sense and properly unfold. I found myself getting lost pretty easily and having a hard time linking the stories to current day people/events. I listened to the audiobook for this one, and at the end felt like I had definitely missed something. I went back and re-listened to the stories and the last few chapters and was then able to fully grasp the story. This may have been different if I had actually read it instead of listening to it...
The characters are ok; I wasn't particularly attached to any of them. This book is definitely more plot/atmosphere driven than character development.
If you are in the mood for quick (4 hour audiobook, <200 pages book) read with a haunting atmosphere steeped in legends of the monsters that watch you from the forests at night, definitely check out Flyaway.
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Blood
mandkips's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Blood, and Death of parent
Moderate: Car accident and Body horror
typedtruths's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
1.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Blood
Moderate: Car accident, Vomit, and Murder
➸ Trigger warnings for emotional parental abuse, blood depiction, body horror, emesis, death of a father, murder of a husband by strangulation, car accident, the disappearance of a sibling, and animal death.megj23's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Graphic: Emotional abuse
Moderate: Blood, Body horror, and Vomit
mairead_parade's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Jennings asks a lot of the reader to orient themselves in this story, but the feeling of uncertainty as to what’s going on is actually a key (and clearly intentional) part of the experience of this book. Because of that I think it would definitely benefit from multiple readings - as soon as I finished, I flipped back to the beginning to try to glean more meaning from it. This book is beautifully poetic and deeply unsettling, which ends up being a very worthwhile combination.
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Vomit, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent
Moderate: Car accident
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