Whoaaaaaa what an enthralling read???? Absolutely in love woth this story and the concept of everything. Adventure and humour and dark stuff and just,, everything I absolutely love. Ghost & human friendships, my beloved
250318, ~6:22-8:02am
Approx. 1.5 hours
This was a fun read!
I liked the progression of the story quite a bit; it felt like a very 'low-stakes' sort of story tbh, but it was easy to become invested in the characters nevertheless.
I think that I most enjoyed the conversations between Halim & Toadling; it felt easygoing and the overall awkwardness of these two characters was amusing to me, especially in their interactions.
Something that I found to be a wee bit off-putting in terms of characterizarion was how Halim was shown to be a bit,, 'iffy'(?) in terms of his beliefs; there is one line that actually made me audibly go ??? bc it really did not seem a thing needed to be said?? Nor did it contribute much, if anything at all to the story. (that one part about his mother being religious enough for all the rest of them [their family] or something, and some other faith-based utterances). Etcetc.
Halim, though, is a lovable character! An awkward gentleman, if you will. Witty and charming in a totally inconsequential manner.
And toadling? She's just trying her best! Good for her! She's also awkward, but in less of a charming way and more in a bog way, if that makes sense. Kind, and tired, and utterly Done. She's been dealt a somewhat sucky deck of cards but is making the most of everything. She's easy to overlook and though she has no real charm to her, I felt enamoured with her in the way one may be with a particularly fascinating patch of moss or a shiny rock.
This isn't like one show more of those 'absolutely blows your mind and leaves you yearning for all manner of changes and scenarios and whatnot' sort of stories. In fact, it's kind of an unremarkable story, much like toadling, but it seems to creep into your heart nevertheless.
Just because it was a somewhat unremarkable story does not mean that it was poorly written—quite the opposite, as a matter of fact! The pacing was delightful and the authour was masterful in her tone and cadence and overall progression. I enjoyed the switching back and forth of the povs in the mortal world vs the fae world, as well as how there was a slight tonal shift each time.
Verdict? Would probably read again. Would likely also like to own a copy someday; there were some sentences here and there that I'd love to annotate and think back on.
The strangest thing is that though this is a 'retelling' of sorts, it felt much more like /something else/, though I am unsure what. By no means is it a negative thing; I found it quite enjoyable, though I lack the correct terminology to describe what this book made me feel—perhaps nostalgic for something somewhere along the way?
Overall, I would like to think that Thornhedge as a book settles in very nicely between your bones, in the way that a cool spring breeze is often wont to do. show less
Approx. 1.5 hours
This was a fun read!
I liked the progression of the story quite a bit; it felt like a very 'low-stakes' sort of story tbh, but it was easy to become invested in the characters nevertheless.
I think that I most enjoyed the conversations between Halim & Toadling; it felt easygoing and the overall awkwardness of these two characters was amusing to me, especially in their interactions.
Something that I found to be a wee bit off-putting in terms of characterizarion was how Halim was shown to be a bit,, 'iffy'(?) in terms of his beliefs; there is one line that actually made me audibly go ??? bc it really did not seem a thing needed to be said?? Nor did it contribute much, if anything at all to the story. (that one part about his mother being religious enough for all the rest of them [their family] or something, and some other faith-based utterances). Etcetc.
Halim, though, is a lovable character! An awkward gentleman, if you will. Witty and charming in a totally inconsequential manner.
And toadling? She's just trying her best! Good for her! She's also awkward, but in less of a charming way and more in a bog way, if that makes sense. Kind, and tired, and utterly Done. She's been dealt a somewhat sucky deck of cards but is making the most of everything. She's easy to overlook and though she has no real charm to her, I felt enamoured with her in the way one may be with a particularly fascinating patch of moss or a shiny rock.
This isn't like one show more of those 'absolutely blows your mind and leaves you yearning for all manner of changes and scenarios and whatnot' sort of stories. In fact, it's kind of an unremarkable story, much like toadling, but it seems to creep into your heart nevertheless.
Just because it was a somewhat unremarkable story does not mean that it was poorly written—quite the opposite, as a matter of fact! The pacing was delightful and the authour was masterful in her tone and cadence and overall progression. I enjoyed the switching back and forth of the povs in the mortal world vs the fae world, as well as how there was a slight tonal shift each time.
Verdict? Would probably read again. Would likely also like to own a copy someday; there were some sentences here and there that I'd love to annotate and think back on.
The strangest thing is that though this is a 'retelling' of sorts, it felt much more like /something else/, though I am unsure what. By no means is it a negative thing; I found it quite enjoyable, though I lack the correct terminology to describe what this book made me feel—perhaps nostalgic for something somewhere along the way?
Overall, I would like to think that Thornhedge as a book settles in very nicely between your bones, in the way that a cool spring breeze is often wont to do. show less