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A review by lunabean
The Burning Girls by C.J. Tudor
2.0
How does this book have 4 stars?! I’m even tempted to give it just 1 instead of 2. Where do I even start?
The story follows Reverend Jack and her daughter Flo’s first 2 weeks in a small town Chapel Croft. After a huge scandal at their previous town, Jack is temporarily posted as the vicar for Chapel Croft. The book starts off with creepy motifs like Jack and Flo seeing ghosts, headless and armless burning girls, and exorcism kits and dead bloody crows left behind in the chapel. There is also a vague mystery about 2 girls missing since 30 years ago - Merry & Joy - suspected to be runaways.
The story was messy in so many ways!
1. Each chapter focused on one character narrative, unknown pronouns used to establish “mystery”. This was not achieved, instead it was very confusing figuring out who “he” or “she” was in each new chapter.
2. What is the main point of this story? So many plot lines were going on at once, it was hard to follow. For example, Poppy covered in blood at the beginning - what was the purpose of that? How did that help the story at all? The Harpers, the vault covering the truth of the martyrs, Tom and his air gun, the history with Ruby, Saffron Winter, Mike, so many reverends - Bradley, Marsh, Fletcher, Dun-something, the murderous actions of Jacob, SO.. MANY.. PLOT LINES!!!! It was messy, confusing, I don’t even know what story the writer was trying to tell.
3. The prose felt more like a screenplay. Conversation and lines one after another could go on for 2 full pages. Sure it made the story easy and quick to read, but it felt lazy, and it was not as exciting to imagine the story unfolding in my head.
4. (spoiler alert) UM…. JACK IS MERRY? How does that even make any sense… That she didn’t recognise Doreen, that none of the people at Chapel Croft recognised her except Reverend Marsh.
Such a messy book, story and characters and prose all over the place. Again, how does this book have 4 stars?!?!??!????
The story follows Reverend Jack and her daughter Flo’s first 2 weeks in a small town Chapel Croft. After a huge scandal at their previous town, Jack is temporarily posted as the vicar for Chapel Croft. The book starts off with creepy motifs like Jack and Flo seeing ghosts, headless and armless burning girls, and exorcism kits and dead bloody crows left behind in the chapel. There is also a vague mystery about 2 girls missing since 30 years ago - Merry & Joy - suspected to be runaways.
The story was messy in so many ways!
1. Each chapter focused on one character narrative, unknown pronouns used to establish “mystery”. This was not achieved, instead it was very confusing figuring out who “he” or “she” was in each new chapter.
2. What is the main point of this story? So many plot lines were going on at once, it was hard to follow. For example, Poppy covered in blood at the beginning - what was the purpose of that? How did that help the story at all? The Harpers, the vault covering the truth of the martyrs, Tom and his air gun, the history with Ruby, Saffron Winter, Mike, so many reverends - Bradley, Marsh, Fletcher, Dun-something, the murderous actions of Jacob, SO.. MANY.. PLOT LINES!!!! It was messy, confusing, I don’t even know what story the writer was trying to tell.
3. The prose felt more like a screenplay. Conversation and lines one after another could go on for 2 full pages. Sure it made the story easy and quick to read, but it felt lazy, and it was not as exciting to imagine the story unfolding in my head.
4. (spoiler alert) UM…. JACK IS MERRY? How does that even make any sense… That she didn’t recognise Doreen, that none of the people at Chapel Croft recognised her except Reverend Marsh.
Such a messy book, story and characters and prose all over the place. Again, how does this book have 4 stars?!?!??!????