Reviews

The Gloaming by Kirsty Logan

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I remember finding this story enchanting when I read it a few years ago but listening on audio exposed a repetitive and disjointed narrative. I was honestly a bit bored in the second half.

It’s still a pretty story with some moments of real beauty but there was too much of everything: metaphors, fairytales, selkies (and f bombs that felt really forced??).

2.75⭐️

saraslats's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

emmaward55's review

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reflective sad

Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

Their future is a forgone conclusion, their fate is set in stone… or is it?

- - -

This is a book best suited to anyone who has recently returned home, or for anyone in the mood for a reflective and somber tone throughout their reading experience.

It’s sad in its inevitability, but perhaps sadder than literally petrifying and becoming your own grave’s monument is the more soulful instance of a pre-determined outcome:

Both Mara and Islay leave the island, and both are wrenched back by the red string that is their love for their parents.

It speaks of the price of freedom, in which we can be wild and unattached, but at the cost of forsaking our ties to the people and places we love. Neither Mara nor Islay were ever truly free. This, coupled with the relative lack of detail given to the reader about the time spent away, adds to the sense that leaving the island is only an interlude in a three act play.

I think a lot of people can find a mirror of their own lives in this book. So many of us as young people will leave the community that we grew up in (either for university, work, or to move in with friends or partners) and yet almost as many of us return to our familial homes like waves receding into the ocean. I’ve been that person and like Islay I found a renewed love for the aspects of my home that make it unique.

You could make the argument that the tumultuous climax that reverts so much of the island back to its beginnings is a heavy-handed metaphor. The island stays the same, the people do not. Perhaps it isn’t possible for a place to change, perhaps it’s only society that can. Mara, Pearl and Islay are left with the bones of a legacy, the work of those who came before is gone, irrelevant. It is up to them to decide how to play with the hand they’ve been dealt. As the ending suggests, their future is no longer set in stone.

Content Warnings

atlastheninth's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective medium-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

I hadn't heard that much about this book but from what I did hear and the blurb and the cover I expected this to be a cute sapphic mermaid story/romance. It is not.

There is a sapphic romance in there, yes, but I don't think it was the main story.

This book is very atmospheric as in there are characters and they are doing things but I feel what matters about this book is just vibes. And those are a bit magical, a bit dark and a bit strange.

I found it beautiful but at at the same time boring and I'm not sure what to rate it.

kat7890erina's review

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3.0

A beautifully written exploration of loss, superstition, and place. It contains one of the best paragraphs of characterisation I have ever read - for John. Or James.

The story meanders and shifts through time and character focus. All are weary and lovelorn and strange.

sophiereads21's review against another edition

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3.0

Mara and Aylah, two sisters growing up in a ramshackle old house on a remote island where people turn to stone when they die.

I picked this up because I really liked the Gracekeepers - but I think the things I liked in that are less present in the Gloaming. The plot is negligible, the story doesn't seem to have much direction. Characters are all broken people, hiding from the real world in stories. It is a great exploration of grief ad they way people feel a pull to return home.

I found it hard to enjoy! Some of this is a function of the fact that I listened to it as an audiobook, which meant the descriptions (while evocative) felt like they dragged when hearing them. But also because it's a sad story with no closure at the end.

Consequently I thought it was beautiful but hard to rate!

katecrackernut's review

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emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

doom_inique's review

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5.0

I am giving this five stars for the marked improvement in writing and storytelling. “The Gracekeepers” was an interesting story set in an interesting world, but the writing style was very choppy and the story was oddly constructed. Characters were a little thin and the book focused on characters that I felt really had nothing to do with the narrative.

“The Gloaming” is a haunting little story about a girl, Mara, and her family living in an old house on a strange island. There’s a little bit of everything: romance, mystery, adventure, loss, magic.

I enjoyed the story more than “The Gracekeepers” and found the characters to be more fleshed-out and individual. The whole world is a little less interesting, but the Island is wonderfully imagined. I found the ending to be satisfying.

The magic was both more and less subtle in this book, the relationships more believable, and I enjoyed the continued water/sea/ocean theme from the first book.