Scan barcode
A review by amandaquotidianbooks
Call of the Undertow by Linda Cracknell
2.0
DNF page 89, 35%
I had high hopes for this book when I bought it early last year - it seemed to contain themes and settings I absolutely love. But, alas, it didn't deliver. The writing style very much suits the story, but didn't suit my tastes. There is much description of the land around where Maggie lives, but it's done in the style of cartography, meticulously naming where natural structures are in relation to others and using many topographical and botanical words I was unfamiliar with. If I had wanted to paint the picture of the scene in my mind, I would have been looking up picture after picture on the internet, interrupting my reading. I was not intrigued by any of the characters, including Maggie. There wasn't enough introspection for a book about isolated people. The chapters moved quickly because they were all about moving and doing, not thinking and feeling, which is what I need from most of my books. And, for such a short book, it took a long time to get to anything resembling an overarching plot. By page 50, my normal DNF cutoff point, I hadn't even met the second main character, Trothan. I was hoping this book would be mysterious and hauntingly beautiful, but most scenes were full of awkwardness. Call of the Undertow has all of the pieces I would normally love, but presents them in a way I unfortunately don't love.
I had high hopes for this book when I bought it early last year - it seemed to contain themes and settings I absolutely love. But, alas, it didn't deliver. The writing style very much suits the story, but didn't suit my tastes. There is much description of the land around where Maggie lives, but it's done in the style of cartography, meticulously naming where natural structures are in relation to others and using many topographical and botanical words I was unfamiliar with. If I had wanted to paint the picture of the scene in my mind, I would have been looking up picture after picture on the internet, interrupting my reading. I was not intrigued by any of the characters, including Maggie. There wasn't enough introspection for a book about isolated people. The chapters moved quickly because they were all about moving and doing, not thinking and feeling, which is what I need from most of my books. And, for such a short book, it took a long time to get to anything resembling an overarching plot. By page 50, my normal DNF cutoff point, I hadn't even met the second main character, Trothan. I was hoping this book would be mysterious and hauntingly beautiful, but most scenes were full of awkwardness. Call of the Undertow has all of the pieces I would normally love, but presents them in a way I unfortunately don't love.