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kpetras's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Within this book are two stories - one, a wonderful retelling of the myth of the Lady in White, a Rochester myth of a mother spending the rest of her days (living, and otherwise) wandering the shores of Lake Ontario searching for her missing daughter. Finn takes liberties with the myth here to a satisfying payoff. Partly a tale of revenge, partly the story of the bond between mother and daughter, Finn's adaptation has a satisfying ending (or, as much of a satisfying end as one can with these sorts of tales.)
The second story is one of PhD student tracking down a disgraced academic whose work on where spirituality and physics meet was inspirational to said student. However, the break in these stories is so long, it's hard to keep track of characters, of what happened at the beginning, and how it relates to the story down the road. The ending to this story is not nearly as satisfying, and instead, I am left wondering if I should care about Green and if his presence was necessary in the book at all.
I think the pacing of the book is disjointed, and I longed for more of the memories Mary had of her mother, for more meat in the story of their relationship. I wanted more to hold on to there because Mary is a very compelling character and her mother is the source of the myth that has lasted however many years. The last 4 sentences, I will say though, are perfect.
On the whole, the myth retelling is good, but I'm not completely sold on the framing device used to tell it.
Thanks very much to the team at Vulpine Press for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The second story is one of PhD student tracking down a disgraced academic whose work on where spirituality and physics meet was inspirational to said student. However, the break in these stories is so long, it's hard to keep track of characters, of what happened at the beginning, and how it relates to the story down the road. The ending to this story is not nearly as satisfying, and instead, I am left wondering if I should care about Green and if his presence was necessary in the book at all.
I think the pacing of the book is disjointed, and I longed for more of the memories Mary had of her mother, for more meat in the story of their relationship. I wanted more to hold on to there because Mary is a very compelling character and her mother is the source of the myth that has lasted however many years. The last 4 sentences, I will say though, are perfect.
On the whole, the myth retelling is good, but I'm not completely sold on the framing device used to tell it.
Thanks very much to the team at Vulpine Press for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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