|
|
Post by geminii on Mar 14, 2021 18:21:40 GMT
Starve Acre by Andrew Michael HurleyTime to open up the discussion thread for those who finish to add their thoughts ..  Please remember to 'white out' any spoilers .. |
|
|
|
Post by rosemary3 on Mar 16, 2021 10:57:21 GMT
Thanks Suzanne!
This is a spooky read but not as disturbing as I was afraid it might be, after reading The Loney. It felt like a very quick read, 240 pages but quite big print, and I wasn’t surprised to discover that it started as a novella and the author expanded it for book publication.
The setup is that Richard and Juliette Willoughby are grieving for their only child, Ewan, who died suddenly at the age of five. Juliette is convinced she sees him all over the house and she spends a lot of time in his bedroom, while Richard is obsessed with excavating the field opposite the house, once the home of a huge oak tree used as a gallows, where nothing now grows.
The plot took a lot of twists and turns that I wasn’t expecting, especially with Ewan turning out to have been quite a nasty little boy under the influence of the presences in the field. I liked that, I found it refreshing.
I expected Mrs Forde to have a malevolent influence, but she was the opposite. That was good too, but then her part seems to fizzle out. I'd have liked her to have had more of a role later. And I didn’t think that sister Harrie added anything to the story.
I was disappointed by the ending. It seemed wide open. I suppose the parents will have Juliette hospitalized, but what will happen to Richard, will he stay there alone and keep digging, and how will it affect him if he does? Something obviously happened to his father in that situation, and things are worse now because Jack Grey/the hare is on the loose. I wonder if the author is planning a sequel? Because I was left expecting much more of a climax.
I gave it 4 stars because I definitely enjoyed reading it, but it could have been 5 stars if the ending hadn’t seemed like a let-down.
|
|
|
|
Post by celia48 on Mar 28, 2021 14:32:43 GMT
I found this book difficult to put down although the subject matter was quite disturbing.
I found it very sad that the little boy who, because of his violent behaviour, was shunned and wasn't given the help he obviously needed and then simply died. The part I found difficult to understand was why Richard accepted the fact that the hare skeleton he found came to life. Up to that point, Richard seemed the more normal of the couple but that was unbelievable. The ending tied together the significance of the tree, the hangings and the hare but left it very open. What happened to Juliette? Did Richard continue excavating the tree and did they continue living at Starve Acre? I would have liked more from Gordon and the Beacons. If they knew what was causing Ewan's behaviour and Juliette's problems following the death of her son, why didn't they do or say something more?
The book left lots of questions but I really did enjoy it in an odd sort of way. If anyone would like my copy, I am happy to post it on.
|
|
|
|
Post by adelynechan on Mar 30, 2021 21:19:13 GMT
Can I take you up on that please, celia48? Sorry for not saying something earlier, before you sent me this month's circle book. I was waiting for a copy that I'd ordered on eBay, but it seems to have gotten lost in the post  The seller gave me a refund, but I kind of would have preferred the book! Happy to pay for postage, or send you any books from my list in return. |
|
|
|
Post by celia48 on Mar 31, 2021 8:46:50 GMT
Can I take you up on that please, celia48 ? Sorry for not saying something earlier, before you sent me this month's circle book. I was waiting for a copy that I'd ordered on eBay, but it seems to have gotten lost in the post The seller gave me a refund, but I kind of would have preferred the book! Happy to pay for postage, or send you any books from my list in return. No problem Adelyne. I’ll pop it into the post tomorrow. |
|
|
|
Post by adelynechan on Mar 31, 2021 18:44:51 GMT
Thanks Celia. No hurry to post, of course!
|
|
|
|
Post by adelynechan on Apr 7, 2021 9:39:58 GMT
Properly tempted by the whited-out parts of Rosemary's and Celia's reviews above, I started this as soon as it arrived. Turned out to be a one-sitting book as it is quite short with large print, and I found the writing generally very easy to follow.
I gave this one 3 stars on Goodreads, but will preface my review by saying that the relatively low score reflects the fact that I’m not really one for books which are subtly supernatural like this one. In a way that I myself find a bit strange, I’m fine with all-out fantasy supernatural, but this one was also very grounded in perceived reality, which spooked me a bit more than I am comfortable with, which in turn affected how much I enjoyed what is otherwise a beautifully written story. I probably wouldn’t have picked this one up if not for this (I vaguely remember looking at it in a bookstore when I had a voucher to spend and eventually deciding on something else), and I’m glad I read it as it is really very different from what I usually read and largely it is a beautifully written sad story of parental grief. The story starts already in a slightly mysterious tone as, although we know from the blurb that Richard and Juliette are mourning the death of their son Ewan, this isn’t actually explicitly said until we are quite far into the story. Instead, the story elegantly diverges between each of the parents’ means of coping with Ewan’s death, both properly odd but in very different ways. I was wondering for a large part of the story how Ewan died: I'd expected that to be a sub-plot in itself, perhaps one of his "games" gone wrong, and was actually disappointed at how benign reality surrounding his death turned out to be. I liked how the author portrayed Richard as the more normal one of the two grieving parents, at least on the surface, then revealing that beneath the surface he clearly has visions of his own. I got properly confused when he started to “see” the hare skeleton put itself back together, to the extent of thinking that then became the hare that turned up at his house, as I thought that he at least wasn’t having visions of the supernatural up to this point - he was digging under the old oak tree but I thought that compared to Juliette, that seemed to be a comparatively normal way of grieving. I also liked how the story took me by surprise in a number of places – from the blurb I was sure that getting involved with the Beacons would further accelerate Juliette’s visions of Ewan, and that they would encourage it, so I was quite surprised that they came once and didn’t want to any more. The character of Ewan, revealed in flashback through what I presume are key events in his short life, also took me by surprise: I was not expecting the violent child image that the author seemed keen to establish. While his parents continually argue in his favour, using child-like innocence as a defence, I thought his actions exceeded that of a child who simply didn’t know better (I’ve probably done mean things as a child, but they’d probably be to the extent of pushing a friend who’d upset me, not gluing a pony’s eye shut!), and if I’m honest the graphic description of Ewan’s cruelty disturbed me. That, and the insinuation that Juliette could have gotten him medical help but apparently chose not to - thus demonstrating that she was already a bit messed up even prior to Ewan's death - I thought was one step too far for my comfort levels. There were equally parts of the story that I didn’t like: I thought the arrival of Juliette’s parents to stay at Starve Acre served no purpose other than to irritate me (her mother has issues!), and I would really have rather had the psychologist come and provide another point-of-vies of the situation.
Overall, apart from several specific scenes that disturbed me, the writing did draw me in and I did like the way the characters profiles deviated from cliché, making me go “oh!” in several places. I thought the ending was a bit disappointing though, I don’t know what I was expecting by this point, but again the picture of the final scene I found quite disturbing. I’m all for open endings but I thought this one left far too many key questions outstanding. If this is setting the scene for a sequel I’m not sure I would read it.
ETA forgot to mention, if anyone still needs a copy, I'd be happy to pass this one on.
|
|
|
|
Post by rosemary3 on Apr 7, 2021 17:15:47 GMT
That's a great review, Adelyne!
|
|
|
|
Post by emzbez on May 4, 2021 18:57:05 GMT
Well I don't really know what to say, it was my book choice and the storyline seemed my type of book. The Tuesday girls from the zoom meet all laughed at my comment of WTF, as the ending was totally off the wall. It is certainly different read and not what I was expecting.
|
|
|
|
Post by pennylane on May 10, 2021 17:06:49 GMT
Well I've had this ages and finally got to read it for RiSi book club. I really enjoyed this tale of creeping horror, superstition and folklore. It was great writing with a developing sense of dread throughout that kept me turning the pages and lots of imagery, the creepy house, bleak landscape where winter never ends and the local superstitious villagers.
I liked the parallel storyline of Richards digging for the Oak tree and it's history/association with his father and Juliette's decent into apparent madness. It didn't pan out quite as I thought it would, I also thought Mrs Forde would have more of a role and I too found the sister and mother most annoying and unnecessary. I did like the way Ewan was influenced/possessed by Jack Grey though some of his actions were disturbing but the ending did leave lots of questions that could have been explained in a little more depth, I wanted to know what happened to Richard when he found the oak tree, what happened to Juliet and Jack Grey? Why exactly did Richard find it so natural that the hare came back to life? Did Richard end up like his father?
Great atmospheric tale though, dark and creepy.
|
|
|
|
Post by sarita on May 19, 2021 16:53:59 GMT
This is a book I didn't expect to enjoy and wouldn't have read if not for a lovely fairy.
Well, I loved it. I didn't try to find logic in the story nor in the characters' behaviour, just let myself be carried away by the flow. It's so well written and so atmospheric!
The ending is as off the wall as the story so why not? I loved it. 5*.
|
|
The seller gave me a refund, but I kind of would have preferred the book! Happy to pay for postage, or send you any books from my list in return. 
