The Ancestor

The Ancestor is a surprising gothic novel, that though interesting, is marred by plot holes and strains believability. The book begins one way, and then goes in a somewhat surprising direction. I enjoyed reading the book (and listening to the audiobook), but it was hard to really buy in to some of the choices these characters made, and other elements of the world never seemed fully fleshed out or otherwise didn't make sense. This was disappointing because I usually enjoy these kinds of stories. And indeed, I did enjoy this book- I just wish I could have enjoyed it even more. I was somewhat surprised to learn this was not the author's debut novel, as the plot read like a writer's first completed attempt of writing fiction of this length (this is not a compliment). I also found the prose lacking a sense of beauty and complexity. The word choice and syntax were fairly pedestrian. Overall this book was good, albeit flawed. I would recommend it, but not highly. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Content warnings: rape, kidnapping, killing, gun violence, stillbirth and miscarriage, death in childbirth, divorce.