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vondav's review
4.0
Thettie Harpur was going home, after 10 years away, wanting to make peace with her cousin Frankie. Going back to Little Ridge, brings back memories and even though the town has changed, people’s views of the Harpur clan hasn’t. Running the clan now was Doc Murphy, a man with a dangerous past who was not one to share his secrets. On arriving Thettie meets up with a local artist who is still haunted by the disappearance of his son and the death of his wife. His only friend is Vernon, a Gila Monster, a lizard rescued from a medical lab whose venom had amazing qualities. Can Thettie get to the mysterious Island and make peace with Frankie? and who is Bryce and why did she find out the Harpurs?
Throughout the book, you are introduced to a lot of characters, each having their individual story but each story interlinked. Whilst reading this book, I felt that Thettie although having all her family around her was a very lonely woman, moving back to Little Ridge brought back a lot of memories and she had a lot of guilt, she only showed her true self when she was with Lee. At the beginning of the book, I could not connect with Bryce and it was not until further into the story that I started to understand her purpose. Lee and Thettie’s story was at times harrowing and I could not understand how Lee could suffer any more pain. I was intrigued with Aunt Sarey and wanted to know more about her and her strange dogs.
This is a very in-depth book and I found that it was a book that I had to take my time reading. It’s a story about love, betray and loss and is most definitely not your normal ghost story. The detailed writing especially the scenes on the lake added mystery to the book and you do wonder what it under the lake. Whilst I do not judge a book by its cover, this is beautifully drawn and I feel that the cover captures Thettie sadness. A good story and a book that I will re-read as I am sure I will find something that I had missed.
Throughout the book, you are introduced to a lot of characters, each having their individual story but each story interlinked. Whilst reading this book, I felt that Thettie although having all her family around her was a very lonely woman, moving back to Little Ridge brought back a lot of memories and she had a lot of guilt, she only showed her true self when she was with Lee. At the beginning of the book, I could not connect with Bryce and it was not until further into the story that I started to understand her purpose. Lee and Thettie’s story was at times harrowing and I could not understand how Lee could suffer any more pain. I was intrigued with Aunt Sarey and wanted to know more about her and her strange dogs.
This is a very in-depth book and I found that it was a book that I had to take my time reading. It’s a story about love, betray and loss and is most definitely not your normal ghost story. The detailed writing especially the scenes on the lake added mystery to the book and you do wonder what it under the lake. Whilst I do not judge a book by its cover, this is beautifully drawn and I feel that the cover captures Thettie sadness. A good story and a book that I will re-read as I am sure I will find something that I had missed.
sralgee's review
4.0
(Note: I received an ARC from the publisher for review purposes.)
With ALETHEIA, I have one thing to say first: read this book with time on your hands. It's dense and complex and needs to be well-chewed.
Thettie Harpur and her large extended family have come back to Little Ridge: the place they were driven from, the place that doesn't want them, the place that has changed vastly in their absence. But the meat of this story isn't the characters (complex and gritty and wonderful as they are); it's not the squabbles of Thettie's sons, or the mysteries of one-eyed Bryce-with-a-"y", or the private pains of Thettie's paramour Lee, or the twisting search for Thettie's enigmatic cousin Frankie.
While Breukelaar has captured the "small rural town" mindset perfectly, its corruption and pettiness and unwillingness to forgive, the heart of this novel is the atmosphere. It becomes a character in itself, thick and foreboding, lush and rotten, hanging over Little Ridge with a weight greater than any monster could provide. All the other elements are just players in its shadow.
Step into it.
With ALETHEIA, I have one thing to say first: read this book with time on your hands. It's dense and complex and needs to be well-chewed.
Thettie Harpur and her large extended family have come back to Little Ridge: the place they were driven from, the place that doesn't want them, the place that has changed vastly in their absence. But the meat of this story isn't the characters (complex and gritty and wonderful as they are); it's not the squabbles of Thettie's sons, or the mysteries of one-eyed Bryce-with-a-"y", or the private pains of Thettie's paramour Lee, or the twisting search for Thettie's enigmatic cousin Frankie.
While Breukelaar has captured the "small rural town" mindset perfectly, its corruption and pettiness and unwillingness to forgive, the heart of this novel is the atmosphere. It becomes a character in itself, thick and foreboding, lush and rotten, hanging over Little Ridge with a weight greater than any monster could provide. All the other elements are just players in its shadow.
Step into it.
mariahaskins's review
5.0
This is an outstanding book, mesmerizing, beautifully written, and terrifying. Like a steam-train, it gathers momentum in the telling, and while the first chapters draw you into the world of the story, allowing you to get to know the characters, everything soon takes a turn I did not see coming. And towards the end, the story is just edge-of-your-seat GRIPPING. Horror and landscape mix with memory and desire in a way that is riveting.
I loved Thettie and her boys, I loved Lee, and Bryce, and the way Breukelaar tells a tale that is unpredictable and surprising as it moves between past, present, and future, darkness and light. The ending was one I did not see coming, but it was also immensely satisfying.
I loved Thettie and her boys, I loved Lee, and Bryce, and the way Breukelaar tells a tale that is unpredictable and surprising as it moves between past, present, and future, darkness and light. The ending was one I did not see coming, but it was also immensely satisfying.
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