Reviews

Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay

ncostell's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

lillidurston's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective slow-paced

3.25

struggleena's review against another edition

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5.0

An eerie gothic tale bathed in light. Picnic at Hanging Rock takes places on a bright, perfect, sunny summer day. In fact, very little of the novel takes place at night. The Australian bush, the stately gardens, and the sun-baked roads all give a sense of dizzying heat, which somehow adds to (if not creates) the uncanny feeling of dread that looms throughout the story. The slow start made me skeptical that I would enjoy this book - but now I want to go back and pick up the details I might have missed. Very gothic, eerie, and strange - not horror exactly and even suspense feels like a strong word. But always a feeling like something bad is about to happen (and it does). I am most intrigued by the “pattern” and what it all means. The detached framework of the narrative also has a very spooky effect. Something supernatural is afoot at Hanging Rock...

PS Albert and Mike were in love, right? And Sarah was in love with Miranda? Not sure about Sarah, but like...Mike was hot for Albert for sure.

heathercbrad's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

ktgrier91's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

4.75

The story of women going missing and the way a traumatic event like that creeps and haunts those close to the event.  At times haunting and surreal this is a masterful real life horror. Slow but an enjoyable slow burn.

hollyhobbit101's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-paced

2.25

duhnae's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I read this book after seeing the movie and it provided a lot more insight and context that I felt I was missing. I would love to revisit the movie in the future. I really enjoy a slow burn of creeping dread in a book and I surprisingly appreciate the ending of it as well.

galisha's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

ellenya's review against another edition

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3.0

Read it broken up over time, struggled to feel pulled in by the story.

Feel I need to watch the film to get a clearer understanding of the story as have seen theories that the story is meant to be fantastical, alludes to time warps, parallel universes and the possibility it’s true… which I did not get from the book at all.

claire_fuller_writer's review against another edition

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3.0

I have always loved this film, and didn't even realise it was a book. But perhaps the reason why no one talks about the novel and everyone knows the film, is that the book isn't that good. I like that the disappearance is never explained (although apparently the original version that Lindsay submitted did have an explanation), and I enjoyed the setting, and it certainly kept me reading. But, it was very old fashioned, and became ridiculously melodramatic by the end. Plus there was the annoying detail that all the beautiful girls were loved by everyone and all the fatter, ugly girls were portrayed as being annoying and stupid.