Review | The Witch Elm by Tana French

Spoiler: This book is not a supernatural-horror.

My bad for not reading the description before adding it to my TBR shelf. But, in my defence: (1) the cover is rather similar to The Changeling, and (2) the title is very similar to The Witching Elm.

Bonus points after I got around to reading the description: (3) the podcast Unexplained covered a very similar event back in season 2. (Listen to part 1 here and part 2 here).

While there are dashes of mystery mixed in, the book is fundamentally a character study: telling the story of Toby, — PR rep and happy-go-lucky charmer — as he falls from golden boy to … not.

What I liked:

The Narrator. I opted to listen to Witch Elm rather than read it … and I will forever congratulate myself for that decision. Paul Nugent did a fabulous job.

The Writing. Pacing issues aside (below!), French’s writing is descriptive and lilting and lovely to listen to.

What I didn’t like:

The Pacing. When it comes to audiobooks, I prefer listening to (1) stories that I’m familiar with (like The Bear and the Nightingale or A Court of Thorns and Roses) or (2) books that are slower. This is because I multi-task when I listen and often find myself distracted … so fast-paced action-packed books are a no-no. I’ll still miss stuff with a slower book – but, I still walk away with a pretty good idea of what happened.

My lesson? A book can be too slow to listen to. Nothing happens in The Witch Elm. Like, nothing. The story is fluffed up like cotton candy: lots of air, but very little substance. Not only did this make for a really boring story, but — as a listener — it was exceptionally difficult to follow. Nugent’s lively narration was the saving grace … If it wasn’t for him, this definitely would have been a DNF at page 50.

Favourite quote:

“The thing is, I suppose,” he said, “that one gets into the habit of being oneself. It takes some great upheaval to crack that shell and force us to discover what else might be underneath”

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The Details:

• The Book: The Witch Elm by Tana French
• Published: 2018, Viking
• My Copy: KFPL
• Read date: May 20-28, 2019
• Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
• You should read listen to this if you like … Irish accents
• Avoid this if you dislike … slllllooooooowwwwwww stooooooories