tracey_stewart's review against another edition
2.0
This book is full of dreams and madness.
That sounds like it could be great, doesn't it?
Well … no.
A common piece of advice for aspiring writers is "never start a book with a character's dream". And Lauren A. Forry didn't. However, after a little while it seemed as though every other chapter began with a dream. Another fairly common piece advice for everyone is "your dreams are always much more interesting to you than to anyone else in the world". By the third or fourth time a chapter opened in the middle of Eliza's nightmare, I rolled my eyes. By the fifth or sixth time I was frankly disgusted. This was another time I was constantly on the verge of quitting, but kept reading because I wanted to know how it all would be wrapped up.
Someday I'll learn that it usually isn't really worth it.
The other part of my first line, madness, was something else that started to inspire disgust by the time I got through the book. By the end this book was starting to look like a DSM-5, a psychiatric diagnosis guide. I'm sure I've used the comparison to salt before in a review: some is good, and more is never better. This was just all much too much.
The other reason I kept going was that the writing had some merit. The gradual – very gradual – revelation of what happened to Eliza's family, and the unspooling of how Abigale Hall got to be the place of horror as described in the book was handled well, for the most part.
But characterization was not terribly strong – Eliza's love, Peter, was a bit like a paper doll being moved through the plot, and the bad guys were straight out of central casting for any 60's gothic. And the madness lapping at just about everyone's knees and splashing about on all the walls and ceilings left lots of questions throughout as to who was trustworthy and who was not. Done well, of course, this sort of uncertainty adds to the atmosphere of a creepy gothic novel. Not done well, it can cause whiplash.
And in the end the pain and aberrant behavior and horror – and dreams and madness – proliferated to the point that it became rather pointless, and … I'm tempted to use the phrase "torture porn", especially since a great deal of the aberrant behavior and horror is focused around a young girl. After chapter upon chapter of oh no she's not – oh, she did, I became jaded, until the big climax of the story landed with a blood-soaked thud. It was like the most brutal five episodes of Criminal Minds in which children are involved, the ones I will never ever watch again, balled together and distilled down to take out the enjoyable character moments. And I found the ending completely unsatisfying, and not something that justified ploughing through the whole book.
The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review.
That sounds like it could be great, doesn't it?
Well … no.
A common piece of advice for aspiring writers is "never start a book with a character's dream". And Lauren A. Forry didn't. However, after a little while it seemed as though every other chapter began with a dream. Another fairly common piece advice for everyone is "your dreams are always much more interesting to you than to anyone else in the world". By the third or fourth time a chapter opened in the middle of Eliza's nightmare, I rolled my eyes. By the fifth or sixth time I was frankly disgusted. This was another time I was constantly on the verge of quitting, but kept reading because I wanted to know how it all would be wrapped up.
Someday I'll learn that it usually isn't really worth it.
The other part of my first line, madness, was something else that started to inspire disgust by the time I got through the book. By the end this book was starting to look like a DSM-5, a psychiatric diagnosis guide. I'm sure I've used the comparison to salt before in a review: some is good, and more is never better. This was just all much too much.
The other reason I kept going was that the writing had some merit. The gradual – very gradual – revelation of what happened to Eliza's family, and the unspooling of how Abigale Hall got to be the place of horror as described in the book was handled well, for the most part.
But characterization was not terribly strong – Eliza's love, Peter, was a bit like a paper doll being moved through the plot, and the bad guys were straight out of central casting for any 60's gothic. And the madness lapping at just about everyone's knees and splashing about on all the walls and ceilings left lots of questions throughout as to who was trustworthy and who was not. Done well, of course, this sort of uncertainty adds to the atmosphere of a creepy gothic novel. Not done well, it can cause whiplash.
And in the end the pain and aberrant behavior and horror – and dreams and madness – proliferated to the point that it became rather pointless, and … I'm tempted to use the phrase "torture porn", especially since a great deal of the aberrant behavior and horror is focused around a young girl. After chapter upon chapter of oh no she's not – oh, she did, I became jaded, until the big climax of the story landed with a blood-soaked thud. It was like the most brutal five episodes of Criminal Minds in which children are involved, the ones I will never ever watch again, balled together and distilled down to take out the enjoyable character moments. And I found the ending completely unsatisfying, and not something that justified ploughing through the whole book.
The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review.
kbranfield's review against another edition
3.0
Abigale Hall by Lauren A. Forry is a creepy Gothic mystery set in Wales during the late 1940s.
Having lost both of their parents during the World War II, seventeen year old Eliza Haverford and her troubled twelve year old sister Rebecca live with their unpleasant Aunt Bess in a rundown apartment in London. Although the second World War has finally ended, jobs, food, housing and clothing remain scarce so Bess seizes the opportunity to rid herself of her troublesome nieces and make a tidy sum of money in the bargain. Eliza and Rebecca are sent against their will to Wales where they begin working for Mrs. Pollard, the housekeeper at the desolate, ramshackle Thornecroft estate. When Eliza begins experiencing increasingly eerie phenomena, she starts looking into the mysterious disappearances of other young women who worked for Mrs. Pollard. Equally concerning is Rebecca's behavior which is growing more disturbing the longer they remain at the estate. Unbeknownst to Eliza, her London boyfriend Peter Lamb is desperately searching for her, but will he find her before it is too late? And if he cannot, will Eliza find a way to save herself from the same fate as her predecessors?
Thornecroft is a very atmospheric setting and Mrs. Pollard, caretaker Mr. Drewry and the mysterious Mr. Brownawell add to the overall sinister feel of the novel. Eliza is a strong lead character but her quest for answers are quickly shutdown by the very formidable housekeeper. Eliza tries to pry information out of the nearby town's residents, but with no one but Ruth Owen willing to talk to her, she does not receive very many new details about the odd occurrences at Thornecroft. Daring to search the huge manor, Eliza does uncover very disconcerting signs that something ominous is going on, but the answers she is searching for remain elusive.
Back in London, Peter is running into trouble as he tries to figure out what has happened to Eliza. His search takes him into the very seedy underbelly of London as he follows the few clues he has managed to unearth. With a shadowy figure following his every move, Peter tenaciously refuses to give up trying to find Eliza but will his efforts to save her pay off?
While the premise of Abigale Hall is certainly intriguing, the story is a little slow paced and becomes rather repetitive. The slow parceling of information is frustrating as is Eliza's blind devotion to her obviously very troubled sister. Her loyalty to Rebecca is understandable given their circumstances, but there comes a point where it is very obvious she is in desperate need of medical intervention. Peter is a wonderful character and his efforts to find Eliza are quite touching especially since he has to dig deep to find the courage to follow his convictions. Lauren A. Forry brings the novel to a pulse-pounding, twist-filled conclusion that will catch readers completely off-guard. An eerie, suspenseful young adult historical novel that, while imperfect, is still a chilling yet entertaining read.
Having lost both of their parents during the World War II, seventeen year old Eliza Haverford and her troubled twelve year old sister Rebecca live with their unpleasant Aunt Bess in a rundown apartment in London. Although the second World War has finally ended, jobs, food, housing and clothing remain scarce so Bess seizes the opportunity to rid herself of her troublesome nieces and make a tidy sum of money in the bargain. Eliza and Rebecca are sent against their will to Wales where they begin working for Mrs. Pollard, the housekeeper at the desolate, ramshackle Thornecroft estate. When Eliza begins experiencing increasingly eerie phenomena, she starts looking into the mysterious disappearances of other young women who worked for Mrs. Pollard. Equally concerning is Rebecca's behavior which is growing more disturbing the longer they remain at the estate. Unbeknownst to Eliza, her London boyfriend Peter Lamb is desperately searching for her, but will he find her before it is too late? And if he cannot, will Eliza find a way to save herself from the same fate as her predecessors?
Thornecroft is a very atmospheric setting and Mrs. Pollard, caretaker Mr. Drewry and the mysterious Mr. Brownawell add to the overall sinister feel of the novel. Eliza is a strong lead character but her quest for answers are quickly shutdown by the very formidable housekeeper. Eliza tries to pry information out of the nearby town's residents, but with no one but Ruth Owen willing to talk to her, she does not receive very many new details about the odd occurrences at Thornecroft. Daring to search the huge manor, Eliza does uncover very disconcerting signs that something ominous is going on, but the answers she is searching for remain elusive.
Back in London, Peter is running into trouble as he tries to figure out what has happened to Eliza. His search takes him into the very seedy underbelly of London as he follows the few clues he has managed to unearth. With a shadowy figure following his every move, Peter tenaciously refuses to give up trying to find Eliza but will his efforts to save her pay off?
While the premise of Abigale Hall is certainly intriguing, the story is a little slow paced and becomes rather repetitive. The slow parceling of information is frustrating as is Eliza's blind devotion to her obviously very troubled sister. Her loyalty to Rebecca is understandable given their circumstances, but there comes a point where it is very obvious she is in desperate need of medical intervention. Peter is a wonderful character and his efforts to find Eliza are quite touching especially since he has to dig deep to find the courage to follow his convictions. Lauren A. Forry brings the novel to a pulse-pounding, twist-filled conclusion that will catch readers completely off-guard. An eerie, suspenseful young adult historical novel that, while imperfect, is still a chilling yet entertaining read.
riebread1's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
4.0
I thought I knew what I was getting into but I didn’t. The middle was slower than I wanted it to be but the ending was what I wanted without knowing it was what I wanted.
raforall's review against another edition
3.0
Review in March 15, 2017 issue of Booklist: http://raforall.blogspot.com/2017/03/what-im-reading-abigale-hall-hh-holmes.html
mombythebooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
thelexingtonbookie's review against another edition
1.0
Alright... there are days where I think I've landed a great random pick from the library, and then end up 50 pages in and questioning what I was on when I made my selection. Abigale Hall is a prime example. I'll be brutally honest: I'm 20 pages in, and I knew this was a supposed to be a Gothic thriller but I really didn't think much about what that meant.
Gothic thriller = Horror story
I'm the kind of girl who can't watch scary movies alone because I get nightmares, let alone read and MAKE MYSELF IMAGINE SCARY STUFF.
So, 20 pages in, I'm struggling. The main character seems alright, but she's got a miserable aunt and a sister who seemed to have some type of OCD with her counting and obsession with repetition. And there's a lot of repetition with the use of onomatopoeia, which is a fine literary device, but it really drags out the scene- something someone as impatient as me would have a hard time tolerating. And the biggest turn off for me is the diction is heavy... simple sentences made complex for effect in strategic places is enough for me, but I don't really care to read a paragraph that I have to practically interpret with a thesaurus.
Fed up, I googled other reviews of this book. Most are positive reviews, given between 3 and 5 stars, but the negative notes in the reviews are saying the same things I figured out in 20 pages- that the book drags, lots of repetition, and heavy plot. Those who stuck with it, I applaud you and thank you for the spoilers, because now I don't feel bad about not having nightmares of.... well, I won't do that to my readers if I can help it. But needless to say, I'm taking this one right back to the library. It's just NOT my cup of tea.
Gothic thriller = Horror story
I'm the kind of girl who can't watch scary movies alone because I get nightmares, let alone read and MAKE MYSELF IMAGINE SCARY STUFF.
So, 20 pages in, I'm struggling. The main character seems alright, but she's got a miserable aunt and a sister who seemed to have some type of OCD with her counting and obsession with repetition. And there's a lot of repetition with the use of onomatopoeia, which is a fine literary device, but it really drags out the scene- something someone as impatient as me would have a hard time tolerating. And the biggest turn off for me is the diction is heavy... simple sentences made complex for effect in strategic places is enough for me, but I don't really care to read a paragraph that I have to practically interpret with a thesaurus.
Fed up, I googled other reviews of this book. Most are positive reviews, given between 3 and 5 stars, but the negative notes in the reviews are saying the same things I figured out in 20 pages- that the book drags, lots of repetition, and heavy plot. Those who stuck with it, I applaud you and thank you for the spoilers, because now I don't feel bad about not having nightmares of.... well, I won't do that to my readers if I can help it. But needless to say, I'm taking this one right back to the library. It's just NOT my cup of tea.