shelvesofsamantha's review
challenging
mysterious
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? No
4.5
aaronazadi's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
christopherwilson13's review
4.0
Normally this many strings left untied at the end would be more of a hindrance but the ride is fun and subtly creepy plus the writing is really enjoyable.
Strong-minded persons in authority can ordinarily grapple with practical problems of facts. Facts, no matter how outrageous, can be dealt with by other facts. The problems of mood and atmosphere known to the Press as ‘Situations’ are infinitely more sinister. A ‘situation’ cannot be pigeonholed for reference and the appropriate answer pulled out of a filing cabinet. An atmosphere can be generated overnight out of nothing or everything, anywhere that human beings are congregated in unnatural conditions.
Strong-minded persons in authority can ordinarily grapple with practical problems of facts. Facts, no matter how outrageous, can be dealt with by other facts. The problems of mood and atmosphere known to the Press as ‘Situations’ are infinitely more sinister. A ‘situation’ cannot be pigeonholed for reference and the appropriate answer pulled out of a filing cabinet. An atmosphere can be generated overnight out of nothing or everything, anywhere that human beings are congregated in unnatural conditions.
interrowhimper's review
3.0
What a weird and ultimately unsatisfying book. I enjoyed reading it, for the most part.
biglegdreads's review
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
shaq's review
1.0
I am so lost having read this, I don't even know what to say. I have so many questions.
This review may give some spoilers to the book, nothing major, but it will discuss the events in the book, but honestly, in my opinion its not even worth reading, so if you are reading this review before having read the book, you're probably saving yourself from going down the line of actually reading this book in my opinion.
What exactly was this book about? The title mentions about a Picnic at Hanging Rock, presumably I would have thought that the book would have revolved around the incident that occurs at the picnic, and so it does, for a while, and then the author moves on and we hear nothing more of it. Why?
Is the book about a supernatural force that revolves around the Hanging Rock? That attracted and teleported the missing people into another realm never to be found and somehow some of them escaped? A classic cheating death story?
Is it about a blooming love story between a rescuer and the rescue-e brought together by a higher power on the day of love itself united through tragedy and trauma? A somewhat love written in the stars story?
Is it a dialogue about the finishing school and the education of women or maybe revolving around a bad Headmistress that didn't care about its wards and how she got what she deserved? A sort of karmic retribution story?
The author went into such brilliant detail in describing each scene that I could picture it perfectly and was sure that the details would eventually be relevant at a later stage but then moved on without any mention of the matter at all. I may have thought that the book was meant for a time when the world didn't have the ability to view things on a screen that this book may have gained its fame for capturing the moment well enough that I imagine people would sit by the fire and read about this appalling event and imagine themselves to be there, but no, this book was written in the late 1960s.
Maybe I'm one of those people who actually need some closure on things I read but I do not believe the author gets to cop out of finishing any particular piece just by writing 'readers need to decide themselves whether this is fact or fiction'. There are supposed news articles mentioned to indicate that the story may have been a non fiction retelling of the incident, yet at the same time references to visions and mysterious disappearances without elaborating or going in-depth on either aspect, and I can understand that the author may have wanted to leave the story an open ended mystery, without having a resolution, but then why go into detail on so many other stories that had nothing to do with it.
The children may have gone lost, but why and where did the teacher go? Why was her clothes missing? Was it normal for everyone's clock to stop working at the same time? Was the people who came back holding something back or had malicious intent? Why was a random person able to find something two days later but the people and all their dogs couldn't through an exhaustive search? Why does Mike not care about someone he was hellbent on rescuing? Was the fire an accident or intentional or an act of god? Was the Headmistress a murderer or twisted in the head?
There are so many questions and literally no answers.
This review may give some spoilers to the book, nothing major, but it will discuss the events in the book, but honestly, in my opinion its not even worth reading, so if you are reading this review before having read the book, you're probably saving yourself from going down the line of actually reading this book in my opinion.
What exactly was this book about? The title mentions about a Picnic at Hanging Rock, presumably I would have thought that the book would have revolved around the incident that occurs at the picnic, and so it does, for a while, and then the author moves on and we hear nothing more of it. Why?
Is the book about a supernatural force that revolves around the Hanging Rock? That attracted and teleported the missing people into another realm never to be found and somehow some of them escaped? A classic cheating death story?
Is it about a blooming love story between a rescuer and the rescue-e brought together by a higher power on the day of love itself united through tragedy and trauma? A somewhat love written in the stars story?
Is it a dialogue about the finishing school and the education of women or maybe revolving around a bad Headmistress that didn't care about its wards and how she got what she deserved? A sort of karmic retribution story?
The author went into such brilliant detail in describing each scene that I could picture it perfectly and was sure that the details would eventually be relevant at a later stage but then moved on without any mention of the matter at all. I may have thought that the book was meant for a time when the world didn't have the ability to view things on a screen that this book may have gained its fame for capturing the moment well enough that I imagine people would sit by the fire and read about this appalling event and imagine themselves to be there, but no, this book was written in the late 1960s.
Maybe I'm one of those people who actually need some closure on things I read but I do not believe the author gets to cop out of finishing any particular piece just by writing 'readers need to decide themselves whether this is fact or fiction'. There are supposed news articles mentioned to indicate that the story may have been a non fiction retelling of the incident, yet at the same time references to visions and mysterious disappearances without elaborating or going in-depth on either aspect, and I can understand that the author may have wanted to leave the story an open ended mystery, without having a resolution, but then why go into detail on so many other stories that had nothing to do with it.
The children may have gone lost, but why and where did the teacher go? Why was her clothes missing? Was it normal for everyone's clock to stop working at the same time? Was the people who came back holding something back or had malicious intent? Why was a random person able to find something two days later but the people and all their dogs couldn't through an exhaustive search? Why does Mike not care about someone he was hellbent on rescuing? Was the fire an accident or intentional or an act of god? Was the Headmistress a murderer or twisted in the head?
There are so many questions and literally no answers.
calypso_elisa's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
kcdennett's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
katokaitlyn's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
It’s just ok! Parts of it are interesting but it loses a lot of momentum in the middle and thus loses a lot of mystery. I feel as if the Sara-Appleyard plot is one of the more interesting subplots included and I feel like I wanted more there. Wished I liked it more as it was a lovely gift from my partner and we actually visited Hanging Rock while I was reading it! Bummer
thebasiccritic's review
3.0
I'm not really sure what to say about this book- I've got mixed emotions.
So, I liked the story line, but I wasn't impressed with the style of writing. I was always torn between whether to keep reading it or to just not finish it, which is why it took me forever to complete it.
I think if you like a sort of death/mystery genre, go ahead and check this one out.
So, I liked the story line, but I wasn't impressed with the style of writing. I was always torn between whether to keep reading it or to just not finish it, which is why it took me forever to complete it.
I think if you like a sort of death/mystery genre, go ahead and check this one out.