Reviews

The Marsh Queen by Virginia Hartman

willowshield8's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.75

hellodarlinggirl's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

jaded618's review against another edition

4.0

This book was beautiful and very visually written. Loni Mae lost her father when she was young. When she grew up she took the one thing her father and her shared, their love of the marsh and nature and she became a natural history artist. She drew birds for the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC. One day, her brother calls her to tell her that her mother is having problems and they need her at home. She discovers her mom already moved into a living facility and that she has been losing her memory. Her brother and wife have already begun packing her things and have been thoughtless about including her until now. As she begins to pack up her mothers life, a mysterious letter is found that mentions someone knowing the truth about her father's death.
Now Loni is back in Florida and the circumstances around her fathers death are coming to the surface. Can she find out the truth? and can she do it without anyone else getting hurt?

kerasalwaysreading's review against another edition

3.0

This book took too long to jump off… The beginning, while it kept my interest, was slow.

Loni has escaped her small town life in the marshlands of Florida after spending a childhood following one basic rule: don’t talk about dad, a man she idolized, who died under strange circumstances when she was a kid.

Now, she is putting in for leave time from her Smithsonian job to go back home at the behest of her brother because their mom is not doing well. Upon her arrival back home, she is immediately reminded of why she left. One thing is different though… and she tries to figure out what really happened to her father.

This book was great in theory, but I just didn’t find myself on the same page with what was going on. Towards the second half of the book, I found myself enjoying it more and more, though.

candicem's review against another edition

4.0

I received this book from NetGalley.
This was a great read! The author was very descriptive and the book moved at a great pace.
Loni Murrow never got over her father's suicide and ran from her Florida hometown to Washington DC. An avid and excellent artist for the Smithsonian, she receives a call from her brother regarding early onset dementia of her mother. Upon returning to Florida, she discovers a mysterious note regarding her father's death and realizes that friends and family are not always what they seem.

stacylmoll's review against another edition

5.0

I loved this book! I am often skeptical when I read if you liked that book you’ll like this one, but I’m the case of The Marsh Queen they were correct. Following Loni and her discovery of what happened to her father and why her relationship with her mom was so strained kept me glued to this book. An added surprise, my hometown is mentioned in this book. I did laugh at the fact that Adlai stopped off in this town with nothing to get supplies, supplies from where? I very much recommend this book.

creaseinthespinebooks's review against another edition

5.0

I have spent alot of time in Northern Florida and so I absolutely loved this book. Not only did i love the characters but also Hartman's descriptions of Northern Florida's marshlands and wildlife were beautiful, making me feel like I was there again while reading.

this is a slow paced thriller.The strained family relationships felt real to me. Her writing style is also wonderful.

Overall, I thoroughly liked reading this novel. I would recommend it to everyone who is in search of a cozy, well written, slow paced thriller.

deazi's review against another edition

informative mysterious slow-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? Yes

3.25

rochellehickey's review against another edition

3.0

3.5 stars

The Marsh Queen is a mix of genres from contemporary fiction to thriller to mystery. The thriller was slow going and ended abruptly. The mystery took a long while to create intrigue. The contemporary fiction was what really kept the book together. It was a fast-ish read with chapters being short. Although, it did feel like at times that I really needed to sit down with the book more than just a chapter at a time so maybe I wasn’t able to give this book the attention it deserved.

I loved the job Loni had. It made for an interesting plot line for her to be traveling through the marshlands of Florida.

Thank you to Gallery Books: an imprint of Simon & Schuster for an advanced readers copy for my honest and unbiased opinion.

the_bitchy_booker's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0