Wakenhyrst Hardcover – April 4, 2019

This was pretty dull. I’m used to so much more from Paver. It was a childish plot, and took many adolescent stabs at religion. We’ve heard all this before. So many authors these days worry more about being PC than telling a good story. It read like a YA book. The only thing scary about this book is how bad it is.

Yeah, this one never quite got going for me. The scariest parts of the book were brutal depictions of the suffering of women at the hands of Puritan, narcissistic men. Folks call this a gothic novel, and I can see the temptation in that. But, it's more like a tale of a narcissist gone mad, and his daughters attempts to cope with that madness. Not much of a ghost story, or scary story to me. Just kinda sad. And I don't want sad. I want haunted! There's a difference. Also, the main male character is insufferable! Stuffy, self centered, inaccurate, erudite...A good portion of the book is reading this insufferable characters journal and being forced to countenance his boring ramblings. Yechhhhh. Save yourself some time and disappointment and skip this one.

I wanted so badly to love this book. I am thrilled with the resurgence of gothic horror and want to support these authors. But this book is not amazing.Don't get me wrong. It is good. But so many parts feel clunky, and the author tries too hard to point out her own cleverness. She'll drop a little bot of foreshadowing, but then come back to it over and over as if saying "HEY LOOK OVER HERE. DID YOU SEE THAT FORESHADOWING I DID?" There's just an overwhelming lack of subtlety.If you want a book of the same genre that is masterfully wrought, try something by Laura Purcell. If you want a better coming-of-age story about a girl in a swamp, check out Where the Crawdads Sing.

This was my first Michelle Paver book and I’m not going let this one form my opinion on her. I do like how she writes/story tells but there was nothing “scary” about this book and I’m still waiting for the witchcraft. I was very excited to read this and was pretty disappointed throughout. Maud’s parts of the book kept me entertained, but once it went to her fathers entries I was bored. I kept waiting for more and I never got it from this book.

Maud is a character to connect with. Although trapped by societal conventions and perceptions of 'proper' female etiquette Maud manages to run a household and uncover the secrets of her manic and insufferable father. The setting on the Fen is magical. The story intertwines local folklore, superstitions, nature and village life beautifully!

This is the third Paver novel I have read and rather love Paver's style of writing. I connected with Maude immediately due to her love of the fen and its wilderness. The book also gave me a good scare as all her books have and I am thankful for it.

Absolutely incredible story. I couldn't put it down. Its the most stunningly written piece I've read in a long time. Maud is the most amazing character. I felt her pain, her strength, her determination. I would recommend it to anyone.

I love a creepy gothic thriller and this one is masterful. It has a manor house on the fens, a graveyard, a Doom painting full of demonic creatures, a father with an obsession, and so much more.

Initially my response to this book was of disappointment. But that was because the pre-release bumph led me to believe that this was supposed to be a really scary ghost story. It isn’t a ghost story at all and there is nothing scary whatsoever about it. There isn’t a supernatural or paranormal element to events just some fears of such things from some of the characters and an inference of such things that develop out of the balance of Christianity imposing itself over the ‘superstitions’ of other beliefs and practices.However, the ‘ghost story’ angle aside there is plenty to be enjoyed ad this is a well written book with a good, slightly innovative, structure.It is more of a ‘coming-of-age’ story. Predominantly events are from the perspective of Maud, a young girl forced to grow up in the early twentieth century with all its prejudices and suppression of women. Maud must struggle with being disregarded or considered worthless when she is clearly more intelligent and capable than all the men around her.The characterisation of Maud is excellent and her development from childhood naivety at her lot in life to understanding the helplessness of it and she can work against it is the main strength of the novel.A large portion of the novel also comes from the perspective of Maud’s father, Edmund Stearne. Through the artifice of having Maud periodically read her father’s diary it allows the narrative to come to from two people in the first person. This also works well in creating a nice contrast between the two. As Maud’s self-awareness and determination develops her father slowly looses his grip on reality. Their method of dealing with their situation is radically different.This all takes place amongst themes of Christianity suppressing pagan beliefs and that of developing society versus nature. These help to create some good atmospheric moments in the fens.There is also an interesting take on a murder mystery scenario here the murderer is apparent from the outset but there is a question over who the victim might be.Definitely a worthwhile read that encourages me to try more from this author, but it doesn’t stand out as a scary or ghost story.

DO NOT READ THIS if Ms Paver's previous trilogy is your favourite ever books in the whole wide world.You will be disturbed by the subject of the book; I found it very distasteful.There is not a single character to like or empathise with.You will speed read the last two thirds of the book because you've guessed most of the ending.You will be very disappointed not to be enchanted as you were with Ancient Darkness.There is a twist at the end but you won't care by then.Only my opinion but good luck.

I loved both of Michelle Paver's previous ghost stories so I didn't know what to expect with Wakenhyrst, and certainly it's a different kind of haunting. I was completely drawn into the strange narrow world of the precocious clever daughter and her cold obsessive father, and the almost unearthly the power of the fen over the people and the landscape. In fact I couldn't put this book down. It's beautiful, at times unnerving, at times heartbreaking novel about power, where it lies, how it shifts, where we can unexpectedly find it when we need it. I absolutely loved Wakenhyrst and can't wait for Michelle Paver's next book!

This is a beautifully written book. I loved the attention to historic detail, and the atmospheric fens fairly come to life beneath the author's pen. This is a creepy, compelling, grisly tale, and as soon as I finished I was keen to read more of Michelle Paver's work. If I have one small criticism it is that the dual narrative is unbalanced. Central character Maud is an engaging narrator, strong enough to drive the story on her own, but her father's rambling journals tend to overshadow her. These instalments are too numerous and repetitive (even though they effectively bear witness to his descent into...well, I'll let you be the judge). However, I enjoyed it. Gloriously Gothic and twisty!

Read the book in a day. Quite gripping and a good gothic horror. Some MR James touches. Didn't find it as scary as Dark Matter which I thought was brilliant.