Imi

I'm no rambler. Your legs and knees and hips aren't made to go forever, and you're born with only so many mountains in you.

I picked this up because a thriller set near where I grew up (Cumbria, England) in a struggling farming community, around the time of the foot and mouth outbreak, sounded very grim and dark. And it was. The early scenes of burning, diseased sheep set a very sinister tone (massive trigger warning for graphic depictions of animal slaughter), and what follows is a chaotic spiral of bad decisions. I'm not going to say too much, because although not super plot heavy, I always think these kind of brooding novels need to experienced without too much foreknowledge.

Multiple times I searched for a glossary of Cumbrian terminology somewhere in my ebook copy. I've only just now found out, upon finishing the book, that the chapter names are actually the Cumbrian dialect numbers for counting sheep. (I consider myself as being from Cumbria, but I was not born and bred there, and my family is not in farming, so some, certainly not all, words may be vaguely familiar to me but not really understandable.)

Even without that glossary (and perhaps keeping things a little unclear was intentional?), I love the use of dialect throughout. It really adds to the sense of place in these hostile hills. The prose overall is gorgeous despite some very grim happenings. The characterisation is also very solid.

While I fear being repetitive (because I have definitely said this in reviews of books I have enjoyed before!), I have to say that Tana French fans need to pick this up. The sense of place in a troubled rural community, with realistic and strong characterisation, despite a few bizarre thriller-esque turns, makes it easy to recommend.

I absolutely will be reading whatever Preston writes next!

I kind of wish this wasn't a crime thriller. The town, the characters, and their relationships with one another were all so good. As a coming-of-age novel examining adolescence and lost friendships, there was so much here to love. Unfortunately, the crime thriller aspects bring uneven pacing, too many tropes, and coincidences. I feel like anyone reading this hoping for a good mystery would be slightly disappointed (and maybe that would be a problem with the novel's marketing?), and that's a shame because Walsh is clearly very talented! Constrained by the genre is maybe my feeling here.

Before I say anything else, trigger warning for rape. It's in the blurb, but I almost feel a warning should be on the front cover in big capital letters! This novel was that hard to read and enraging for me, at times.

I cried throughout. It's heartbreaking how authentic it felt, because stories like Jade's are far too common. 

This authenticity is above all, I believe, thanks to the book's incredibly well written characters. Not just Jade, our narrator, (real name, Ceyda, of mixed Korean-Turkish heritage), but her friends, her parents, and boyfriend. All of them are infuriating at times, due to their decisions and actions, but that's what makes it 100% believable.

There also are several different plotlines and conflicts going on at the same time, and none of them are tied up neatly with happy endings for anyone involved. There was only one moment where I scoffed a little at a coincidence (although, I can see why Lee wrote it this way). Other than that one (minor) moment, it almost felt like memoir.

I will definitely be following Ela Lee's career and hoping for more London based, true-to-real-life novels like this in the future! Such a talent.

Second in Tana French's Cal Hooper series (you should definitely read The Searcher first!), this is a book for lovers of character-driven novels, in rural settings. French is so talented at creating believable characters, and related to that, incredible, strong literary friendships, backed up by beautifully witty and fun dialogue.

Trey and Cal may not be my favourite friendship that French has ever written (that would be Rob and Cassie from In The Woods), but it's close. The way they worry about each other, and consequently keep secrets from one another, is masterfully done. Teenage Trey is that little bit older than the Trey of The Searcher, and I very much enjoyed seeing how she's grown, but also been held back by her
life experiences. Trey is convinced she always knows best, and unwilling to see evidence to the contrary, even from adults that clearly care and worry for her.

The plot of The Hunter is less good than its setting and characters. The initial money-make scheme is beyond ridiculous. It does lead to some funny dialogue, so I'll give it pass for that reason, but I just find it utterly unbelievable that so many characters would go along with it for so long. The climax and ending were great, in my opinion, but I can't help feeling it was very disconnected what came earlier.

Another enjoyable Tana French novel. I do like these characters a lot, although I am starting to wonder how many books in this series she will write. I'd like to meet some new characters too.

Pieces I've started:
- 28/11/18: Bach's ‘Musette in D major, BWV Anh 126' (p.13)