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A review by adamsw216
Winterset Hollow by Jonathan Edward Durham
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Eamon and his friends are big fans of the famous children's book Winterset Hollow. They decide to visit the island that was said to have inspired the author to write the book. They meet an intrepid group of fellow Winterset Hollow fans also making the pilgrimage and together they charter a ferry over to the sprawling isle. When they arrive, they find that the world of the story book they all share a love for is far more real than they could have possibly imagined. However, the reality isn't much like the story book at all.
I enjoyed the concept of this book. I can't help but feel like I've heard of books with similar concepts, but I can no longer recall what they were. I thought the set up was good. The world was well established, and the characters felt at least somewhat fleshed out. The Hollow characters were the most interesting and vividly drawn, in my opinion. However, there was a notable turning point in the book early on, and from there the sense of mystery sort of dissipates. It becomes a fairy straight forward story from there on out. Sure, there are unanswered questions that draw us (and the characters) inexorably towards the conclusion, but that thread of curious wonderment is abruptly cut off and replaced for a more urgent and deep seated need-to-know.
The author, Durham, can clearly write well. However, I felt like the prose was overly flowery, and in some places it was practically purple. I also found the switching of perspectives to be a bit jarring and unnatural. I don't think it really adds anything to the story, and I might even go so far as to say that it is a contributing factor towards the loss of that thread of curious wonderment I referred to earlier in my review. That being said, the descriptions of the setting are well done and the island and manor are exquisitely painted for the reader.
The story had a clear colonization angle, but I feel like the message sort of peters out a bit at the end with how things are resolved. I suppose the conclusion seems natural in the flow of the story, but is the original message important or is it not? I'm left a little unclear as to what the author intended, exactly.
(Small, pedantic complaint, but the author has characters feeding a fire using pages torn from a paperback book. This would keep a fire going for like five seconds and wouldn't keep it nearly hot enough to keep people warm. Also, a blanket is wrapped around a stick and lit on fire as a torch. Without being soaked in something like tar or oil, that torch would not burn for nearly as long as they used it for. Also, I noticed the author really likes the word "sip" as in "so-and-so took a sip of air". He maybe used it just two or three times too many.)
All in all, it was an interesting premise with a decently executed story and a vividly painted setting. Not a bad read, and a pretty good debut novel for an author. I'd be interested to see what he writes in the future.
I enjoyed the concept of this book. I can't help but feel like I've heard of books with similar concepts, but I can no longer recall what they were. I thought the set up was good. The world was well established, and the characters felt at least somewhat fleshed out. The Hollow characters were the most interesting and vividly drawn, in my opinion. However, there was a notable turning point in the book early on, and from there the sense of mystery sort of dissipates. It becomes a fairy straight forward story from there on out. Sure, there are unanswered questions that draw us (and the characters) inexorably towards the conclusion, but that thread of curious wonderment is abruptly cut off and replaced for a more urgent and deep seated need-to-know.
The author, Durham, can clearly write well. However, I felt like the prose was overly flowery, and in some places it was practically purple. I also found the switching of perspectives to be a bit jarring and unnatural. I don't think it really adds anything to the story, and I might even go so far as to say that it is a contributing factor towards the loss of that thread of curious wonderment I referred to earlier in my review. That being said, the descriptions of the setting are well done and the island and manor are exquisitely painted for the reader.
The story had a clear colonization angle, but I feel like the message sort of peters out a bit at the end with how things are resolved. I suppose the conclusion seems natural in the flow of the story, but is the original message important or is it not? I'm left a little unclear as to what the author intended, exactly.
(Small, pedantic complaint, but the author has characters feeding a fire using pages torn from a paperback book. This would keep a fire going for like five seconds and wouldn't keep it nearly hot enough to keep people warm. Also, a blanket is wrapped around a stick and lit on fire as a torch. Without being soaked in something like tar or oil, that torch would not burn for nearly as long as they used it for. Also, I noticed the author really likes the word "sip" as in "so-and-so took a sip of air". He maybe used it just two or three times too many.)
All in all, it was an interesting premise with a decently executed story and a vividly painted setting. Not a bad read, and a pretty good debut novel for an author. I'd be interested to see what he writes in the future.