Hey guys I am back from my brief break and have missed you all!
I am trying to catch up on reviews and want to stick to the order I read them as much as possible so I can gradually catch up with everyone in the correct order!
So next is Pine. I saw this in Waterstones a few times as it was being advertised everywhere by them! I also saw a few people online had started reading it and wanted to get involved!
The story is set in the Scottish Highlands following 12 year old Lauren and her father Niall as they try to get through the usual day by day after Lauren's mother suddenly disappears years before. Soon a mysterious woman is seen on Halloween night. By morning she has gone again. With a town full of secrets and people acting strangely and knowing more than they let on Lauren tries to find answers using her tarot cards. But when a teenager disappears Lauren needs answers!
I know I read this book a while ago but even writing that brief was sooo hard! This isn't because of the time in which I read it, I just found that nothing really happens in the book. I was extremely disappointed with Waterstones for almost pushing this book as I was seriously let down and not much can pull it through if I am honest.
First off the characters were unbelievable. Lauren was 12 and yet I felt she wasn't really treated like one or acted like one . On one hand she is being babysat, which is fine, but then she is discussing things and thinking things that are far more advanced for her years. Her being the main character we follow we are meant to hold a connection to her and I really felt more like I didn't understand her. Her father Niall I also struggled with. He is portrayed as a drunk after losing his wife, understandable. And is secretive. Except I feel this is pushed far too much considering there wasn't really much to go on apart from the fact he is still grieving the loss of his wife, wondering what happened to her and where she could be now.
All the way through this book gives hints of things that are being kept secret, people behaving strangely, and then nothing comes of it. I would love to say they built all this tension up but even that would be incorrect. I honestly felt nothing reading most of this.
The story actually started ramping up at about 75% in.... By which time most people would have probably given up! I myself will always try to finish a book and therefore persevered and actually the climax of the book was pretty decent. But even the way it got there I found it so far from anything I could believe would actually happen. I understand what the author tried to do, how it was meant to lead to multiple options for the ending before finally being revealed. And I did like the ending! However for myself I think it was lost in a lot of nothingness.
It is a shame but I would not recommend this book. It was hard to find the will to keep going.
Pine by Francine Toon
Pages - 336
Goodreads Rating - ⭐⭐
