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kidneynerd's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
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
3.0
anna_may's review against another edition
2.0
Thank you to Net Galley for sending me a copy in exchange for a honest review.
This was a very intriguing plot, but I felt it could have been executed a little better. For me, there wasn't much of an opportunity to connect with or get to know the characters, and I didn't like the religious aspects of it, as the religion itself wasn't truly explained.
The changes in POVs and also time jumps back and fourth were a little confusing and didn't flow very well.
The book follows an island community, based on an island far off the coast of the UK called Lark, that is closed off from the outside world for around 7 months of the year as it is unapproachable by air or sea due to weather. The community is incredibly religious and misogynistic. We follow Viola who moves to the island with her mother to get over some trauma on the mainland, as well as one of the school teachers who has always lived on Lark.
One of the aspects I really didn't like was that the women and girls on the island, although they make up the majority of the population on Lark, are treated by the men in a very condescending way. The girls are patted on the head, their cheeks are pinched and they're spoken to as if they're not very bright simply because they're female, and then when the girls reach 16 years old they're suddenly seen as women and finally old enough to be lusted over (which is...no. They're still children).
There's one pub on the whole island and women are only allowed in there at the weekend - when the 3 girls on the island who have turned 16, all of the pub patrons suddenly think it's okay to talk about them in a sexual way and how they'd give 'them all one'. This didn't sit well with me because there was no point where the author mentioned that this was not appropriate. No character commented how that was wrong and I just didn't like it, probably more so because it was a modern setting and we know as a society that this behaviour is wrong.
I really did want to enjoy this one, but I just couldn't get into it. Sadly, I wouldn't recommend this but this has all just been my opinion - if you like the sound of this book then by all means give it a go and let me know what you thought!
Trigger warnings for misogyny, sexualisation of minors, explicit descriptions of sex.
This was a very intriguing plot, but I felt it could have been executed a little better. For me, there wasn't much of an opportunity to connect with or get to know the characters, and I didn't like the religious aspects of it, as the religion itself wasn't truly explained.
The changes in POVs and also time jumps back and fourth were a little confusing and didn't flow very well.
The book follows an island community, based on an island far off the coast of the UK called Lark, that is closed off from the outside world for around 7 months of the year as it is unapproachable by air or sea due to weather. The community is incredibly religious and misogynistic. We follow Viola who moves to the island with her mother to get over some trauma on the mainland, as well as one of the school teachers who has always lived on Lark.
One of the aspects I really didn't like was that the women and girls on the island, although they make up the majority of the population on Lark, are treated by the men in a very condescending way. The girls are patted on the head, their cheeks are pinched and they're spoken to as if they're not very bright simply because they're female, and then when the girls reach 16 years old they're suddenly seen as women and finally old enough to be lusted over (which is...no. They're still children).
There's one pub on the whole island and women are only allowed in there at the weekend - when the 3 girls on the island who have turned 16, all of the pub patrons suddenly think it's okay to talk about them in a sexual way and how they'd give 'them all one'. This didn't sit well with me because there was no point where the author mentioned that this was not appropriate. No character commented how that was wrong and I just didn't like it, probably more so because it was a modern setting and we know as a society that this behaviour is wrong.
I really did want to enjoy this one, but I just couldn't get into it. Sadly, I wouldn't recommend this but this has all just been my opinion - if you like the sound of this book then by all means give it a go and let me know what you thought!
Trigger warnings for misogyny, sexualisation of minors, explicit descriptions of sex.
kubooks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-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? Yes
3.25
chrissiereads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
siobhanward's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-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? Yes
2.5
I'm really not sure what to make of this book. Part community drama, part thriller, part paranormal. The plot definitely dragged - it was meant to be a slow burn but at times was just too long. I also felt the timeline was very hard to follow- honestly I'm still not 100% clear on the order of the events.
Some of the content in this is pretty disturbing - sometimes it was used effectively, other times not so much. I think one of the challenges that I had with this book was that there was so much uncertainty and so many misdirects that I just was never quite sure what was happening.
Some of the content in this is pretty disturbing - sometimes it was used effectively, other times not so much. I think one of the challenges that I had with this book was that there was so much uncertainty and so many misdirects that I just was never quite sure what was happening.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Pedophilia
anna_may's review against another edition
2.0
Thank you to Net Galley for sending me a copy in exchange for a honest review.
This was a very intriguing plot, but I felt it could have been executed a little better. For me, there wasn't much of an opportunity to connect with or get to know the characters, and I didn't like the religious aspects of it, as the religion itself wasn't truly explained.
The changes in POVs and also time jumps back and fourth were a little confusing and didn't flow very well.
The book follows an island community, based on an island far off the coast of the UK called Lark, that is closed off from the outside world for around 7 months of the year as it is unapproachable by air or sea due to weather. The community is incredibly religious and misogynistic. We follow Viola who moves to the island with her mother to get over some trauma on the mainland, as well as one of the school teachers who has always lived on Lark.
One of the aspects I really didn't like was that the women and girls on the island, although they make up the majority of the population on Lark, are treated by the men in a very condescending way. The girls are patted on the head, their cheeks are pinched and they're spoken to as if they're not very bright simply because they're female, and then when the girls reach 16 years old they're suddenly seen as women and finally old enough to be lusted over (which is...no. They're still children).
There's one pub on the whole island and women are only allowed in there at the weekend - when the 3 girls on the island who have turned 16, all of the pub patrons suddenly think it's okay to talk about them in a sexual way and how they'd give 'them all one'. This didn't sit well with me because there was no point where the author mentioned that this was not appropriate. No character commented how that was wrong and I just didn't like it, probably more so because it was a modern setting and we know as a society that this behaviour is wrong.
I really did want to enjoy this one, but I just couldn't get into it. Sadly, I wouldn't recommend this but this has all just been my opinion - if you like the sound of this book then by all means give it a go and let me know what you thought!
Trigger warnings for misogyny, sexualisation of minors, explicit descriptions of sex.
This was a very intriguing plot, but I felt it could have been executed a little better. For me, there wasn't much of an opportunity to connect with or get to know the characters, and I didn't like the religious aspects of it, as the religion itself wasn't truly explained.
The changes in POVs and also time jumps back and fourth were a little confusing and didn't flow very well.
The book follows an island community, based on an island far off the coast of the UK called Lark, that is closed off from the outside world for around 7 months of the year as it is unapproachable by air or sea due to weather. The community is incredibly religious and misogynistic. We follow Viola who moves to the island with her mother to get over some trauma on the mainland, as well as one of the school teachers who has always lived on Lark.
One of the aspects I really didn't like was that the women and girls on the island, although they make up the majority of the population on Lark, are treated by the men in a very condescending way. The girls are patted on the head, their cheeks are pinched and they're spoken to as if they're not very bright simply because they're female, and then when the girls reach 16 years old they're suddenly seen as women and finally old enough to be lusted over (which is...no. They're still children).
There's one pub on the whole island and women are only allowed in there at the weekend - when the 3 girls on the island who have turned 16, all of the pub patrons suddenly think it's okay to talk about them in a sexual way and how they'd give 'them all one'. This didn't sit well with me because there was no point where the author mentioned that this was not appropriate. No character commented how that was wrong and I just didn't like it, probably more so because it was a modern setting and we know as a society that this behaviour is wrong.
I really did want to enjoy this one, but I just couldn't get into it. Sadly, I wouldn't recommend this but this has all just been my opinion - if you like the sound of this book then by all means give it a go and let me know what you thought!
Trigger warnings for misogyny, sexualisation of minors, explicit descriptions of sex.
lazygal's review against another edition
2.0
There's a disconnect between the summary and the actual book: yes, Lark Island is isolated and fog-bound, filled with secrets and tight-knit. But the religious aspect? Missing. I had thoughts this could be like Harvest Home or In the Night Wood (etc. etc.) yet that's not the case. So my next thought was that it could be like And Then There Were None or any other locked room-like mystery. Again, not the case. Instead it's relatively easy to guess what the Big Secrets are and what will happen. What a waste of setting!
eARC provided by publisher.
eARC provided by publisher.
thebooktrail88's review against another edition
Set on a very very remote island - Lark - somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic ocean
Women are treated as sex objects
Witchcraft and religion prevail
There is something very weird going on here.....
Thank goodness the island is fictional!
wafflepolly's review against another edition
4.0
“How contagious evil can be... dressed in the guise of justice”
This is an odd one, a unique one.
The writing style has a feeling of the action, the characters, the story, all being behind a pane of frosted glass that the reader is trying to peer through. Everything is just slightly semantically obscured in a way that has a dreamlike effect, almost as if the story is taking place on a different plane of reality.
Everything that is, except for the setting. The location is so perfectly described, and the slightly opaque writing style adds to a very particular mood. I can picture the stormy Atlantic island of Lark so perfectly, even as I feel no connection to the characters within. The claustrophobia, the superstition (both of modern and more ancient religious sorts), the paranoia... it all comes together to paint a vivid picture of a remote community.
We are introduced to the isolated island of Lark through the eyes of newcomer Viola Kendrick and her mother. Paralleled with their arrival is another "coycrock" in the form of a new teacher, Ben Hailey. The suspicion awarded to these outsides adds another layer to the setting and fuels much of the story.
The most interesting theme throughout for me was the spreading of rumours within a small, isolated community. There are essentially three voices in this book - Viola's point-of-view chapters, Leah's first person chapters, with the third voice being the whisper of gossip travelling like wildfire across the island. This resulted in a strong point about the dangers of a secret known by a whole community, that is deliberately "forgotten", and how that only leads to more victims of its truth over time.
The Eldest Girls – largely the focus of the story – feel unknowable outside of the gossip. Even as Viola gets close to them, they’re talked about from a distance. Until the final few chapters, no interactions are even witnessed by the reader between Viola and the girls in an active way – occasionally they're mentioned as passive anecdotes. This kept them mysterious and added intrigue to the story – are they really witches? are they evil? what are they trying to achieve? – but I do feel like as a result, some understanding of their motive was sacrificed.
This book took me a long time to get into. The first half - it didn't drag, but it didn't remotely grip me, either, and the constant changes not only of point-of-view but of timeline too didn't help this. And then I reached about the halfway point, and everything changed. I had to force myself to go to bed after cramming in an hour or two of reading at the end of a busy day, because otherwise I would have stayed up all night to finish it.
Two scenes in particular hit me pretty hard. One a poignant uprising, and one a tragic twist. Both are towards the end of the book, so I shan't spoil, however they are reason alone to keep reading if you find the book a little difficult to get into.
As for a rating, I found this hard to decide upon one. I really wouldn't be surprised if months down the line, I return and change the star rating, depending on how the book sits with me after I've had time to let it stew a little.
For now, I'll go with 3.5/5, rounded up to 4.
This is an odd one, a unique one.
The writing style has a feeling of the action, the characters, the story, all being behind a pane of frosted glass that the reader is trying to peer through. Everything is just slightly semantically obscured in a way that has a dreamlike effect, almost as if the story is taking place on a different plane of reality.
Everything that is, except for the setting. The location is so perfectly described, and the slightly opaque writing style adds to a very particular mood. I can picture the stormy Atlantic island of Lark so perfectly, even as I feel no connection to the characters within. The claustrophobia, the superstition (both of modern and more ancient religious sorts), the paranoia... it all comes together to paint a vivid picture of a remote community.
We are introduced to the isolated island of Lark through the eyes of newcomer Viola Kendrick and her mother. Paralleled with their arrival is another "coycrock" in the form of a new teacher, Ben Hailey. The suspicion awarded to these outsides adds another layer to the setting and fuels much of the story.
The most interesting theme throughout for me was the spreading of rumours within a small, isolated community. There are essentially three voices in this book - Viola's point-of-view chapters, Leah's first person chapters, with the third voice being the whisper of gossip travelling like wildfire across the island. This resulted in a strong point about the dangers of a secret known by a whole community, that is deliberately "forgotten", and how that only leads to more victims of its truth over time.
The Eldest Girls – largely the focus of the story – feel unknowable outside of the gossip. Even as Viola gets close to them, they’re talked about from a distance. Until the final few chapters, no interactions are even witnessed by the reader between Viola and the girls in an active way – occasionally they're mentioned as passive anecdotes. This kept them mysterious and added intrigue to the story – are they really witches? are they evil? what are they trying to achieve? – but I do feel like as a result, some understanding of their motive was sacrificed.
This book took me a long time to get into. The first half - it didn't drag, but it didn't remotely grip me, either, and the constant changes not only of point-of-view but of timeline too didn't help this. And then I reached about the halfway point, and everything changed. I had to force myself to go to bed after cramming in an hour or two of reading at the end of a busy day, because otherwise I would have stayed up all night to finish it.
Two scenes in particular hit me pretty hard. One a poignant uprising, and one a tragic twist. Both are towards the end of the book, so I shan't spoil, however they are reason alone to keep reading if you find the book a little difficult to get into.
As for a rating, I found this hard to decide upon one. I really wouldn't be surprised if months down the line, I return and change the star rating, depending on how the book sits with me after I've had time to let it stew a little.
For now, I'll go with 3.5/5, rounded up to 4.
wildflowerz76's review against another edition
DNF. The story sounded interesting, but this writing isn't appealing to me at all.