Reviews

The Witch Elm by Tana French

marlyngitomer's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Pacing was very slow. I was intrigued by the middle but stopped caring by the end. It just dragged on and I'm past the point that character development was no longer happening. I wonder why this story has to be told. The mystery was kind of interesting and dark, but then there were other things that happened. Meh. I do like her writing style and would give another one of her books a try, but this one was so-so. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Cancer, Murder, Sexual content, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Cursing, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Stalking, Violence, and Dementia

threegoodrats's review against another edition

4.0

It’s hard to know how to rate this book. On the one hand, Tana French’s writing is always just so compelling and immersive. I actually flew through this book in about 3 days, which may have been quicker than I’ve read her other books. On the other hand, reviewers who complain that it was too long and should have been edited down a bit have a point. It didn’t bother me much at the beginning because I was just enjoying getting into the story, but later I did think it seemed like it was going on a bit long. Plus, I didn’t like how it ended - Toby does this thing near that end that seemed totally unnecessary and I don’t understand why he did it but it totally changed the course of his life. I’m also not convinced we needed so much about his work situation and the break-in. I think there was enough story without going into those parts so deeply. Still, the central story was a good one!

vgh5's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

the_bfool's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

hayley_s's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

dunnadam's review against another edition

3.0

Strange ending, like I thought it could be a dream for a while. I didn't like it.

vlreid's review against another edition

5.0

Tana French at her finest in her latest stand-alone novel. I was disappointed when she stopped writing the Dublin Murder Squad books, but this storyline is extremely compelling and involves two separate crimes and mysteries. More than 500 pages, but had me captivated throughout.

Toby is an easy-going young man for whom life always seems to go his way. One night after spending the evening with his friends in the pub, his house is broken into and he is savagely beaten. He spends quite a long time in the hospital recovering, followed by time at home where he realizes that things will definitely not ever be the same again. He has a limp, memory problems, muscle weakness and other neurological problems.

He goes to live with his ailing favorite uncle at the family's Ivy House where he spent many summers with his cousins. A skull is found in a large tree on the property. Detectives arrive, find the entire body, and needless to say the spotlight is then shone on Toby as the murderer for a variety of reasons. Toby and his cousins try to solve the mystery on their own. From here the story weaves between past and present, truth and fiction, in a way that only Tana French can do it. What an enjoyable ride as a reader!

Read more of my reviews at https://thegoodreader13.blogspot.com/.

trin's review against another edition

3.0

Somehow, this is the first Tana French book I've read and it was...okay. She's engaging with some interesting themes here and employing some skillful POV work -- the narrator is neither wholly reliable nor particularly likable much of the time, and this is carried off with care and intent. But this is still a very long, very slow book based almost entirely around people sitting around in rooms having lengthy, somewhat circular conversations. I was occasionally intrigued -- more often thematically than by the characters or plot -- but never frantically engaged, which, let's face it, is what one wants from a mystery/thriller.

doctor_km's review against another edition

3.0

I really wanted to like this book, but in the end I found it to be a slow and meandering trudge toward an obvious conclusion. The multiple "whodoneit" parts were simple to figure out very early on, and there was a tremendous amount of unnecessary verbiage. I think you could easily cut 200 pages and be OK.

My plan was to read The Searcher next, but I think I'll push it back in the queue after how disappointing this was.

catherineannecarr's review against another edition

3.0

Interesting read, but diverged a little too much from what I like about her other books.