Easy listening for busy days, but don’t recommend audio if you can’t see the chapter titles. It was a choice between being lost in this book vs irl every time I wanted my gps. 

 

Energy: Caustic. Demanding. Irreverent.  

Scene: 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 A countryside resort in rural Dorset, England.

Perspectives (5): A local farmboy working at the resort bar. The resort owner who inherited the land. Their spouse who is developing the resort on the land. An old friend returning to the resort as a guest. A detective inspector investigating a body found near a cliff. Told over multiple timelines around the current solstice/Feast day and in 2010. 

 

🐺 Growls: Too much time jumping. Time jumping in confusing order (at least for audio). 

🐕 Howls: Little too drawn out on the melodramatic style. Withholding minor details to create suspense.

🐩 Tail Wags: The unlikeable and likeable characters. Finding out how everything connects. The ending. The reveals and surprises. Often predictable but kept my interest. 

 

🤔 Random Thoughts:

Me for most of this: Ooo was this is before the solstice? After? During? This must be the 2010 timeline. ~checks screen~ …it’s the evening of the feast…is that the same as the solstice? When am I?!?!

 

The storytelling had that ‘dun-dun-dun’ feeling when we got a reveal no matter how big or small. I kinda liked it. Very soap opera style. Except by the end, it felt like soap opera fatigue - I just wanted the drama without the drama. 

 

🤓 Reader Role: Different characters talking to us, telling us story, thoughts, motivations, hopes and dreams.

🗺️ World-Building: Just enough detail for you to imagine it. The author doesn’t kill imaginings later with extra details or late info.

🔥 Fuel: Keeping secrets and crucial information just out of reach. Interlocking mysteries and revelatory backstories. 

📖 Cred: A little over-the-top, a little suspended disbelief. 

 

Ancient trees. Robes. Cows. Chickens. Infinity pool. Self tanner. Caravan Park community. Wine cellar. 

 

Content Heads-Up: Sexual content (mention; sounds, rough, consenting, self). Classism. Neglectful childhood. Alcoholism (self-medicating, drunk). Sexual assault (on page; unwanted kissing, fondling). Body shaming, misogyny (body shape, breast size, attractiveness). Animal death, cruelty (murder; cow, birds). Toxic friendship. Infidelity. Poisoning. 

 

Rep: White and Trinidadian-British. Cisgender. Heterosexual.

 

📚 Format: Libro.fm