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chartania's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.75
rmarcin's review against another edition
3.0
This book is told in several parts. It starts with modern day, but then goes back into the past, when the mystery began. Stone Mothers is what insane asylums were called (now mental hospitals, sanitariums). Marianne's mother is ill, and to save Marianne from a long commute, or staying in a hotel, her husband purchases a flat in the old (now renovated) Nazareth asylum. However, Marianne is terrified because of a deeply hidden secret from her past. The asylum brings back memories of her first boyfriend, Jesse, and all the time they spent near Nazareth. The story exposes the horrors that happened in these asylums, and the barbaric treatment of the patients.
I felt that this book dragged on and on. It was murky in parts, and rehashed the same things over and over. It was confusing to follow Marianne's thoughts in the beginning, but they made more sense when the entire story was revealed. If it had been a tighter story, I think I would have enjoyed it more.
#StoneMothers #ErinKelly
I felt that this book dragged on and on. It was murky in parts, and rehashed the same things over and over. It was confusing to follow Marianne's thoughts in the beginning, but they made more sense when the entire story was revealed. If it had been a tighter story, I think I would have enjoyed it more.
#StoneMothers #ErinKelly
blogginboutbooks's review against another edition
4.0
This isn't my favorite Kelly novel, but it is atmospheric and eerie, a definitely Gothic vibe weaving throughout the story. The plot is not pulse-pounding, but it's steady. Between it and the characters, STONE MOTHERS definitely kept me engaged. It's a depressing story, but I liked it overall.
marilynw's review against another edition
4.0
The story is told from the viewpoint of Marianne in the present and then when she was seventeen, from the viewpoint of Helen from the time she was a teenager until her eighties, and from the viewpoint of Honor, Marianne's daughter, in the present. During the first section of the book, I was having a hard time getting into the book but once we got to Marianne's younger years, getting more background to the story made it more interesting, and then by the time we got to Helen's viewpoint, I was hooked. Helen's story is a sad one but I had trouble deciding if her cold parents led to Helen's inability to connect with people or if she would have been that way anyway. Whatever the case, what happened to Helen when she was young, was the catalyst for the things that happen later in the book.
A lot of the story takes place in and on the grounds of an old asylum, while it was still in use as an asylum, while it was a decrepit and dangerous mess of rubble, and lastly rebuilt as luxury apartments and cottages. A young Marianne and her young boyfriend Jesse, blackmail politician Helen and this leads to the three being tied to each other for decades to come. So many lies tie them together and each are haunted by what happened in the past and the secrets that they try to keep under wraps. The character of Helen intrigued me the most but for all she had in her life and all she accomplished, the fact that she could not connect with other people meant she had nothing at all.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC.
A lot of the story takes place in and on the grounds of an old asylum, while it was still in use as an asylum, while it was a decrepit and dangerous mess of rubble, and lastly rebuilt as luxury apartments and cottages. A young Marianne and her young boyfriend Jesse, blackmail politician Helen and this leads to the three being tied to each other for decades to come. So many lies tie them together and each are haunted by what happened in the past and the secrets that they try to keep under wraps. The character of Helen intrigued me the most but for all she had in her life and all she accomplished, the fact that she could not connect with other people meant she had nothing at all.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC.
milkweedfreeze's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
This was too slow! The premise was good, and I thought it was well-written and an interesting premise, but the beginning was so so slow. I really liked the characters, but this book could have been 100 pages shorter.
trisha_thomas's review against another edition
2.0
"You’re actually lucky to be ill in this day and age.”
Hmm....I think this one just had bad timing. I didn't find myself pulled into the story at all. I liked the voices of the characters but right from the get go, I made assumptions about certain characters based on gut feeling and I hated when I was right. It made the slow burn of the story drag on and left me feeling frustrated it was taking so long. I wish I'd loved it more.
Hmm....I think this one just had bad timing. I didn't find myself pulled into the story at all. I liked the voices of the characters but right from the get go, I made assumptions about certain characters based on gut feeling and I hated when I was right. It made the slow burn of the story drag on and left me feeling frustrated it was taking so long. I wish I'd loved it more.
marshaskrypuch's review against another edition
3.0
This novel started off way too slowly for my taste and didn't pick up up until a third of the way in. I think the past story would have been more effectively told if it was interspersed through the narrative. That said, the story was ultimately interesting.
srimtl's review against another edition
4.0
I picked it up since it was on the 'new' shelf in the library, without expecting a lot from it.
It starts in a rather Paula Hawkins sort of way, but then unexpectedly steers you in a direction that I definitely did not see coming. It's not plot twists, or an unexpected event that rather takes you by surprise, and that's what makes this book quite so unique. Erin does all this just in how she tells the story. The plot is simple, the stories within the characters is much more deeper and tugs at your heart.
To have given voice to all the main characters she builds in the book is something i thought enriched the story. My first Erin Kelly, and now in classic me style, I'll hunt down all of them and devour them.
P.S I read a couple chapters before bed and it did give me a sleepless night.
It starts in a rather Paula Hawkins sort of way, but then unexpectedly steers you in a direction that I definitely did not see coming. It's not plot twists, or an unexpected event that rather takes you by surprise, and that's what makes this book quite so unique. Erin does all this just in how she tells the story. The plot is simple, the stories within the characters is much more deeper and tugs at your heart.
To have given voice to all the main characters she builds in the book is something i thought enriched the story. My first Erin Kelly, and now in classic me style, I'll hunt down all of them and devour them.
P.S I read a couple chapters before bed and it did give me a sleepless night.