A gripping gothic tale with some striking observations about the nature of literary inspiration. As in many works of "magical realism", there are some surreal aspects to the plot which are never satisfactorily explained. If I didn't mind this, I would have added another star to my rating. ( )

A gripping gothic tale with some striking observations about the nature of literary inspiration. As in many works of "magical realism", there are some surreal aspects to the plot which are never satisfactorily explained. If I didn't mind this, I would have added another star to my rating. ( )

Like most, I was drawn to this book by the comparison to Twin Peaks and the beautiful cover. After discovering it at a local bookstore with a glowing staff recommendation, I decided to add it to my lengthy "to read" list and leave it at that. After reading more reviews online, I ended up returning to the bookstore the next day to purchase it, deciding that it seemed like the kind of book I wanted to read as a book rather than on my Kindle.

Now I'm wishing I had gone the Kindle route. Although a quick read, this book promises and proposes so many interesting and twisted ideas and only answers one of the numerous questions it sets forth. The plot jumps from strange disappearances to strange deaths to unexplained phantoms to diseased books without ever settling on one concept long enough to nurture it. With enough interesting concepts and mysteries to fill multiple books, the mysteries seem wasted in this story. Despite having so many interesting directions, I am still struggling to identify any cohesive plot after finishing it.

Interestingly enough, the majority of the action in this book occurs in the epilogue, which moves quickly and seems to being answering one of the more pressing mysteries of the book. Unfortunately, the revelation and resolution of the story is handled like an afterthought on the last page, and instead of bathing the rest of the book in a new light, it feels like another wasted opportunity to say anything real. In the end, the story and characters always felt like they were at a distance (the fault of the translation, perhaps?) and the story left me wanting more closure.

Overall, I would recommend this to those who revel in open-ended mysteries that leave the reader a lot of room to fill in the gaps. ( )

Une histoire à demi réaliste et à demi fantastique. Des histoires de secrets qui ne peuvent pas être dévoilés.
Si le récit est bien construit et plaît certainement à de nombreuses personnes, je n'ai pas trop aimé ce livre et j'ai eu vraiment de la peine à arriver au bout... L'aspect très répétitif du "schéma" de récit et les personnages sans personnalité très marquée (tout le monde est un peu mou, en particulier Ella, le personnage principal, qui avance dans l'histoire selon ce qui lui arrive; la seule vraie volonté qu'elle a est de découvrir le secret de la Société) m'ont été lourds à cette lecture, sans compter le côté fantastique qu'on découvre vraiment environ aux 2/3 du livre... ( )

Inventive, unnerving, and delightful, with occasional forays into the Psychologically Quite Nasty. Either heavily influenced by the Moomintroll books, or (more likely) both were influenced by Finnish/Scandinavian cultural and mythological heritage. Goes past magical realism but stops short of surrealism by just a hair.
Like a fairy tale detective story where the last few pages, when the detective explains it all, are missing. A book that is satisfying on its own (IMO) but practically *requires* you to get someone else to read it so you can animatedly discuss your theories on what exactly was going on with this character or that. Also props to the author for writing an absolutely believable female protagonist. ( )