Mollie

3.75. This book is not without it's problems, but I enjoyed it. The characters can be annoying when they make obviously wrong choices- but I felt like that just made them feel more real to me.

I have a hard time rating this (why do I find myself saying this so often) because I had serious issues with the structure of the book which detracted from its searing eloquence about grief.

The topic is incredibly important and sometimes the author would pen a sentence so poignant that it would rouse deep sadness and anger for me about the state of this country. The section on her brother is heartbreaking and beautifully written in its sorrow. However, I really struggled understanding the timeline of the other sections and wish it the novel occurred on one solid timeline versus jumping back and forth.

1. Fine enough to be entertained, but felt longer than it needed to be. The plot & its accompanying twists are fairly obvious and thus not much of a thriller in general.

If you consider yourself a fan of nature, you'll probably enjoy the poetic descriptions in this book (especially if you're keen to the Appalachians.) But, if you're a 100 percent bonafide nature nerd- well, you'll find yourself angered at the inaccuracies found within. If you're a bird trainer, especially one who knows eagles well, you'll be incredulous at the insanity of some of the supposed happenings in here. And even more so if you're also cozy with some Komodo dragons. Add in some anger for every horse person who will flinch at the mention of “white” Arabian (white doesn't exist in horses- it's gray or cream mellow colors which are more gold/pink, white is NOT a thing) and you'll do a lot of cringing throughout this novel. God knows I did. Would have been cool if the authors research was consistent as they obviously researched Chesnut blight and other ecological issues. The writing is good, it's the poor research I take so much issue with.

Also, I still feel like I have no understand of the villian's driving forces other than vague greed, so I still just don't quite understand the point of the entire reading.

I spent the whole thing mad and finished it quick out of spite. So there's something I guess.

This was just not good. The author tells the story in alternating narrators each chapter, yet both of these vastly different women sound exactly the same. I literally found myself going back pages to figure out who was even talking. As far as the story, it feels like it tried to go for some sort of twisty shock value but it's just hollow and not all that shocking, just unbelievable in a dumb way. For a book set in Tangier, I felt little connection to the setting or why the characters even were there in the first place.