Did I buy this book partially because of the simple cover with a black and white deer and gold font, and sprayed-edge tree? Possibly, but it is undeniable that physically, the book is beautiful. Having read it in the Spring time, I would have to say that this may be a book that is more appropriate for the Fall time; thematically and is set in the latter quarter of the year being some of the reasons for this.
Some spoilers ahead.
Father – an alcoholic. Daughter – bullied. Mother – gone; but where?
Where is the mother and what happened to her were some running questions that I had essentially as soon as I found out she wasn’t in the picture, and more so I was focused on the ‘what happened’ part of the question. Though the explanation isn’t really straightforwardly given to the readers, and some light is only shed on the event in the final few chapters, where there isn’t really enough time for action to fall calmly, I felt that there was more of a sudden drop.
There aren’t that many characters in the book, but I found it a little hard to engage with them when reading. It seemed, at times that the story jumped around a little between chapters which I found a little troubling at times, and that the big question of what happened to the mother was tiptoed around. This was primarily due to ages of some of the persons in the book but, even between the adults, it was not spoken about, which I found a little odd.
My rating is not that high but I struggled a little with this book. I went into it with a rather open mind, it’s within the genre pool of books I enjoy so I had high hopes for this one, especially it being set in the mysterious Highlands of Scotland, but unfortunately, it fell a little short. There was a slight choppiness to the book, which for me, made it a little challenging to read, unfortunately. I will say that the plot did pick up the pace just past halfway through. Potentially, had the author chosen for the book to be longer there would have been more room for a longer ending and incorporation of what happened to the mother, as well as more room for the development of the lost girl.
aga is reading 