Rhiannon
Kestrel awakens deep in the woods with no memory of who he is or how he got there. He’s not alone though, as a group of 12 strange and mysterious individuals, all of whom have masks and names like Lynx, Stout, Gannet and others, immediately begin a horrific sacrificial ritual. Soon he discovers he will be initiated via a similar anthropophagic rite, and journey with them through the hinterlands to the seat of cabalistic old gods. As Kestrel desperately tries to piece together what is happening to him, why no one seems to have any memories of their ‘former’ lives, why there are hunters tracking them, and what will really happen at their destination, he also must plot his escape from the cult.
The overall tone of the novel was a folksy, mysterious one that was at times frustrating. The writing is serviceable, doing a better than decent job of evoking the cold, inhospitable wilderness the small group must traverse to the appointed ‘sacred mountain’. And my curiosity about the meaning and objective of the group was definitely piqued. But the character interactions often felt deliberately obtuse and vague and rarely believable – I was hoping for more from the individuals. And because none of the characters seem to have any real memories it’s nearly impossible to care for any of them or their actions. They’re just propelled by this unwavering faith in a sort of rapture they’ll be in when they reach their destination.
The inclusion of a peculiar para-military group of hunters who are tracking them with an apparent goal of outright killing them was also bizarre. There’s a lot of enigmatic hints and whiffs of symbolism going on (a girl who carries her severed foot around her neck = a ‘lucky’ rabbit’s foot so that means she brings luck, and each of the group member’s names are supposed to evoke something about their personality or purpose), but in the end none of this ever really gelled for me.
The novel starts out promisingly enough but failed to engage me with either the finale or the characters themselves, none of which seemed to have any great development.
My thanks to NetGalley for the advance review copy which was provided in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Originally posted at www.instagram.com.
Kestrel awakens deep in the woods with no memory of who he is or how he got there. He’s not alone though, as a group of 12 strange and mysterious individuals, all of whom have masks and names like Lynx, Stout, Gannet and others, immediately begin a horrific sacrificial ritual. Soon he discovers he will be initiated via a similar anthropophagic rite, and journey with them through the hinterlands to the seat of cabalistic old gods. As Kestrel desperately tries to piece together what is happening to him, why no one seems to have any memories of their ‘former’ lives, why there are hunters tracking them, and what will really happen at their destination, he also must plot his escape from the cult.
The overall tone of the novel was a folksy, mysterious one that was at times frustrating. The writing is serviceable, doing a better than decent job of evoking the cold, inhospitable wilderness the small group must traverse to the appointed ‘sacred mountain’. And my curiosity about the meaning and objective of the group was definitely piqued. But the character interactions often felt deliberately obtuse and vague and rarely believable – I was hoping for more from the individuals. And because none of the characters seem to have any real memories it’s nearly impossible to care for any of them or their actions. They’re just propelled by this unwavering faith in a sort of rapture they’ll be in when they reach their destination.
The inclusion of a peculiar para-military group of hunters who are tracking them with an apparent goal of outright killing them was also bizarre. There’s a lot of enigmatic hints and whiffs of symbolism going on (a girl who carries her severed foot around her neck = a ‘lucky’ rabbit’s foot so that means she brings luck, and each of the group member’s names are supposed to evoke something about their personality or purpose), but in the end none of this ever really gelled for me.
The novel starts out promisingly enough but failed to engage me with either the finale or the characters themselves, none of which seemed to have any great development.
My thanks to NetGalley for the advance review copy which was provided in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Originally posted at www.instagram.com.