I know, this is a much beloved book and it got heaps of accolades, but unfortunately, this book wasn´t one for me.
It is beautifully written and the descriptions of the march really makes the landscape come alive. The atmosphere in this book is stunning. But atmospheric writing alone just isn´t enough.
So, why didn´t this work for me?
As I have mentioned on several occasions, I´m not a big fan of coming of age stories. To speak the truth, I have DNFd several of these kind of stories ("To Kill a Mockingbird" and "I Capture the Castle" amongst them). At the beginning, I really didn´t mind this aspect of the story, but from page 200 and onwards it really became tedious to read about her growing up. Call me insensitive, call me cruel, I just don care reading about a young girls struggle to find her place in life. And as I had high hopes in the mystery part of the story, I was disappointed to read a more than lackluster mystery / court room drama for the last 80 pages of the book.
Even though the writing style is a beautiful one, I had nonetheless some issues with the writing. There is that thread of melancholy and sadness that runs through the entirety of the novel and there is not a single moment, in which Delia Owens allows her characters to be utterly and blissfully happy. It really bogged me down to the extend that I really didn´t feel the need to pick this book back up. And I felt like the author tried to emotionally manipulate me, which I don´t like at all when a book does this.
And I didn´t like the ending of the book and in my personal opinion, it really jumped the shark on the very last page. I think this might be the first book I have read that actually has done that and in hindsight, it made the whole plot seem a bit implausible.
I can totally see that other readers fall head over heels with this book. But there are some things in it that are against my personal taste of what I enjoy in books and especially the second half of the book was a huge letdown.
Another hyped book that wasn´t for me. Oh, well...
10
8
