In the Woods
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Did I miss something?
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Katherine
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rated it 4 stars
Sep 17, 2014 03:41PM
Just wait until you start The Secret Place. Best. one. Yet.
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Just finished this book and was extremely let down that there wasn't a conclusion to the older mystery. That was the whole reason I was captivated into reading the book. The author has written several books since and not touched on this mystery again so my hopes of getting it resloved are not high. I felt like they were trying to pin it on a wild animal at one point but no bodies were ever found so none of it made sense to me. I see the comment above about The Secret Place. Having been so hugely disappointed by In The Woods I didn't plan on ever reading the author again. Is it really worth trying The Secret Place? Just curiuos because I will if others highly recommend it.
Can I get responds of whick book is the authors best so maybe I can try another one?
Holly, read The Likeness. Trust me. ;-)
Yes, I agree. The Likeness was the best
Yes, I agree. The Likeness was the best
Sarah wrote: "I read an interview on the author's webpage that indicated that she would be writing another book dealing with Ryan's character and seemed to suggest that it would address the unanswered questions ..."it was like a real life unsolved mystery to me...you hope to get resolution, but that does not always happen
Can I get responds of whick book is the authors best so maybe I can try another one?Every book in the series is the best according to somebody, because they're all so different. If you care about the solve more than character development, skip them all, but it's worth mentioning that she doesn't leave any big mysteries wide open after the first novel.
This is a question to anyone who has read the whole series: Do we ever find out what happened to Jamie and Peter and why on earth the fox/bird/beast thing kept being mentioned? If the answer is no, that won't push me away from the other books. However, without spoiling too much, is there more closure in the endings to the other books? I really like the writing style, but I don't want to go on to read something only to still have questions at the end.
Jennifergrady wrote: "Eli, I thought the same thing . . . "Yep, me too. He's a little unstable.
Angela wrote: "I replied on this thread 5 years ago! Just started Broken Harbour, and it's hooked me. I think I will finish this one, and then the new one that just came out, AND then re-read from the beginning...."
I did!
Really good book I don't mind the mystery of the kids disappearance not being solved because I felt the author was good enough to get away with it.But what on earth was the supernatural element all about? The thing in the tree and the thing that appears in front of the car. Never explained or tied in with anything else.
To me supernatural type stuff has to be really well done to be good. This wasn't, it came they kinda saw and it went never to reappear... Eh?
Still a really good book though.
Read the likeness but never believed in the whole "they looked exactly the same" bit. It's never going to happen that two people look so alike. The psychological stuff's really good though.
I'm gonna have to read the 2 nd book! Agh!
One thing about The Likeness...For those who question the likelihood of the plot and think they don't have a doppelganger living an hour away from you:
* Exhibit A
* Exhibit B
Also...
#BringBackRobRyan
A LITTLE schizophrenic? I'd say Ryan went off the deep end there for a while! What really disappointed me was the fate of Jamie and Peters's was not finalized. I thought that was the pivotal point in the book.
Anyone know if there is a new one coming out? Still reading the last one. Left it for other books, and now coming back. Still going to re-read the whole lot of them.
"All she had left was her death and I wanted to leave her that, that at least. I wanted to wrap her up in soft blankets, stroke back her clotted hair, pull up a duvet of falling leaves and little animals’ rustles. Leave her to sleep, sliding away forever down her secret underground river, while breathing seasons spun dandelion seeds and moon phases and snowflakes above her head. She had tried so hard to live.""I was aching to go over to her, put my arms around her, hold her close until that terrible rigidity melted out of her body and she came back from whatever remote place she had gone to."
Rob is not a sociopath without sympathy. He's just a huge jerk when he's not in his right mind. Yes, he's a liar, but what is meant by that disclaimer comes up again explicitly and it's not that; unreliable narratives have to have actual meaning contained in the contradictions and this book has a lot more meaning without such a cheap twist and with its ambiguity intact.
I thought, from reading the blurb on the book, that it was about the disappearance of Peter and Jamie, and the connection of that case to the death of Katy in the present. What I got, instead of a payoff on that fascinating premise, was a character study of Adam/Rob, their remaining friend, who is FUBAR because of the trauma he suffered with them, that he doesn't remember, and that we never find out about. He's a misogynistic jerk, and I ended up not liking him much at all. Cassie I liked, and I'll read The Likeness just because it's her story, but I swear to God if it's another ambiguous, pointless ending with no closure to the main story involved, I'll never touch another Tana French novel, regardless of how deft her prose may be.
I don't understand why everyone recommends it so highly. I mean, the writing's pretty good, but the mysteries themselves are nothing to write home about.I just don't get it.
That was my thought when I finished, too: even she didn't know what happened to those kids, so she just wasn't going to tell us.
I feel the same way. I doubt I'll continue beyond The Likeness, which I already bought before I finished In the Woods, unless French pulls out all the stops with a great mystery and a FULLY SATISFYING ending. :)
Anne wrote: "I thought, from reading the blurb on the book, that it was about the disappearance of Peter and Jamie, and the connection of that case to the death of Katy in the present. What I got, instead of ..."
I don't think the author is responsible for the blurbs printed on the back of the book-I think it is the publisher. I often find these give too much or the wrong information and the book would have been more interesting or satisfying without knowing as much.
If you hadn't been misled by the blurb do you think you would still have been so dissatisfied? For all I know, Tana French may have fully endorsed the expectation and that part of her intent was to leave the reader hanging. An artist often wants to make us feel things, to make us think. As the partaker, we might have the expectation that the experience should make us feel satisfied when the artist intends something quite different...
I probably wouldn't have read the book if it had had a more accurate blurb, no. While it is absolutely the author's right to end her work however she pleases, it is the reader's right to be less than thrilled with it. Which is not to say I hated it. I didn't. I don't finish books I hate. But I think her ending was more than acceptably ambiguous. She didn't even present the options of what could have happened. Her character just doesn't remember anything and there's nothing to speculate about. I doubt think I'm alone in my complaints, either.
You are most certainly not alone in your complaints and I by no means meant to imply you don't have a right to like or dislike this book or any other.I've found over the past few years that I like the suspended or withheld ending, if done well.
I didn't care for Broken Harbor. I love French's writing, but that one did nothing for me. I hated the resolution of one of the main plots and it ruined the whole thing for me. Even her style of writing seemed mundane compared to "In The Woods" and "The Likeness".
No, it's ok. I know what you meant. I do like her writing style. I just thinks it's almost cheeky for a novel to end with no resolution at all. But then I never liked it when people kept secrets either. :)
The title "In the Woods (Dublin Murder Squad, Book 1)" led me to believe there is, or will be a book two, which will resolve the 1984 mystery and hopefully put a more satisfying closure on Ryan's life.
The Dublin Murder Squad stories continue, but not with Ryan. The narrator/MC changes with each book in the series, and we have not come back to him yet.
Holly wrote: "Just finished this book and was extremely let down that there wasn't a conclusion to the older mystery. That was the whole reason I was captivated into reading the book. The author has written seve..."Katherine wrote: "Just wait until you start The Secret Place. Best. one. Yet."
I wouldn't bother reading the secret place I hated it just as much, unanswered questions sgain
I hated in the woods so much I swore I'd never pick up a Tana French book again but I won the secret place so gave her another go, I have seen her other books in the charity shops and have left them there I won't bother reading anything by her again although I'm told others were better, I hate the whole light bulb thing not being explained in the secret place
YES. Thank you both. I thought I was the only one this annoyed with her writing. It's good to not be alone. :)
totally agree with you Mary
I advise everyone to avoid her books shed at the top of my most hated authors :-)
I didn't mind that it wasn't resolved until I found out it wasn't resolved in the next book of the Dublin murder squad series! I believe the characters were different too that's just unforgivable
makes no difference to me now I will never read a book by her again lol
Thank goodness we don't all think alike!I was beside myself upon the end of In the Woods with no resolution, every nerve was jangling for the fix of a conclusion. I loved the book,, loved her writing style but oh, the pain!
Did I pick up The Likeness with the fervent hope that Rob would reappear in Cassie's story, that at the very least we'd find out more about what was happening in his life even if the mystery wasn't resolved? Absolutely. French's writing was even more lush and evocative even while I was despising Cassie I felt sucked into another world (not necessarily a supernatural world although tinging on it).
I can only be glad that French doesn't do the full-blown supernatural as that is not my thing and I like that every book I read doesn't have to follow the same formula. Except for Broken Harbor (which I just didn't like and only connected with any characters in the most fractional way) I think she pulls it off very well. She is one of those authors that leave me somewhat up in the air at the end of the book but the books and characters stay with me.
If any of you have read Liane Moriarty's The Husband's Secret, there were a few threads that were left unwoven and characters we wanted to know more about. Upon finishing, I thought it was one of her less fulfilling reads but as time has passed, I think that was more my emotional reaction one character was dealt with. It has moved up to third place in her books for me.
Vive la difference!
And this being Thanksgiving in the USA, I'm thankful for people with shared and differing views to discuss with and let me not end the sentence with a preposition!
Oh the husbands secret is my worst read of this year
LOL, Rhian! Maybe we can check out each other's lists to find out what not to read? :)
BTW, Mary, if you type out (using ~so it doesn't go into spoiler mode)<~spoiler~> spoiler content here <~/spoiler~> you should be able to do a spoiler on a tablet, maybe?
Jennifergrady wrote: "I had to reread the last several pages as well, the jacket of the book seemed to indicate a resolution for Adam, but if there was I missed it -- anyone have any idea what the artifact at the end re..."I did the same reread the last pages.. because i thought i might had missed something
I think that after awhile, Adam became a psychopath, and that is why Cassie had distanced herself. There is definitely something he is not being truthful about. A good read, But I still want to know what happened to those kids!
I'd worked out quite early on in the story who was involved in Katy's murder so only carried on reading to find out what happened in 1984. I know, logically, that it was an exceptionally well written book but the disappointing ending has overshadowed that for me. So, should I read any more of this series? Will i be able to enjoy the superb writing without wanting to throw the book in frustration at the end? Can anyone else who has read more Tana French advise?
Rachael I also read the secret place and that left unanswered questions I will never read another book by Tana french
Rhian wrote: "Rachael I also read the secret place and that left unanswered questions I will never read another book by Tana french"Ah, thank you, I may have to steer clear too :)
I often see the other in the charity shops but I won't be tempted no matter how cheap they are, I feel cheated when the story isn't resolved
I can't think what was left unexplained in The Secret Place?
At one point towards the end, Rob/Adam admits to us that he was a fat kid and couldn't keep up with the other 2. He admits later at the end of the book that in his night in the woods where he "relives" the night of the 1984 disappearance that he couldn't jump down from the tower as quickly as the other 2 did and he was far behind them when running, leaving it open to the possibility that he didn't really know what had happened to the others.
I had the haunting sense that Rob was the killer. There were several mentions of him being so much larger and stronger than the others.
I liked the book right up until he had that night with Maddox - he went batshit crazy mode from that point on.And i would like to get some answers as to what hapened to his friends. But i think that we all knw what happened - only not the motivations...
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