The story of Starve Acre is very quick to set its scene of an eerie, isolated family who even before the loss of their son felt alienated from their village community. Told through the present-day events and a series of flash backs, the story plays out in an ever-escalating series of events with an imposing threat that could be supernatural in nature or just an unfortunate tragedy of a family unable to cope.
This is the first novel I have read from this author (although not the first I have owned), and I really enjoyed the emotion and mystery that the story conjured. It didn’t take a long for me to that I wanted to know more regarding the characters – early on we know that they have lost their son but not the circumstances, with details sparingly scattered throughout. Due to the gothic nature of the stories, very few character’s motivations seek clear and I found I wanted to know where the story was going which kept me reading. Often just enough information was given to make you wonder but without really answering, giving the reader the ability to come to their own conclusion. I felt this generally really worked with this story, because at all times it leaves you wondering what could you believe.
For myself, this was also the reason I did not give the book 5 stars, I felt some elements had been left a little too open ended, and as I had no one to discuss theories with, I felt that I wanted one of the strands to be resolved to stop me being too uncertain. I enjoyed the supernatural elements but at time wanted something more to confirm or disprove my theory – which is something that I truly believe a lot of readers will enjoy. Especially as I feel this gives you the opportunity to re-read the story so that all the extra nuggets of information can be identified and examined.
Overall, I felt the pacing was well done, as information could be sparse, it kept you going and whilst not a long story, it didn’t feel as though it should have been a different length.
Generally, the characters were interesting, it felt as though everyone was painted a spectrum of grey with their own motivations and as such it didn’t particularly matter to me if I did or didn’t dislike them. Something that can be a challenge when an author clearly makes their intent for how you should feel known and your experience doesn’t quite line up. I did feel there were a few unneeded secondary characters but overall it felt like a tight rein had been kept.
Ultimately this felt like a story for those looking for a gothic, potentially supernatural read, unafraid of the sometimes disturbing and cruel.
This is the first novel I have read from this author (although not the first I have owned), and I really enjoyed the emotion and mystery that the story conjured. It didn’t take a long for me to that I wanted to know more regarding the characters – early on we know that they have lost their son but not the circumstances, with details sparingly scattered throughout. Due to the gothic nature of the stories, very few character’s motivations seek clear and I found I wanted to know where the story was going which kept me reading. Often just enough information was given to make you wonder but without really answering, giving the reader the ability to come to their own conclusion. I felt this generally really worked with this story, because at all times it leaves you wondering what could you believe.
For myself, this was also the reason I did not give the book 5 stars, I felt some elements had been left a little too open ended, and as I had no one to discuss theories with, I felt that I wanted one of the strands to be resolved to stop me being too uncertain. I enjoyed the supernatural elements but at time wanted something more to confirm or disprove my theory – which is something that I truly believe a lot of readers will enjoy. Especially as I feel this gives you the opportunity to re-read the story so that all the extra nuggets of information can be identified and examined.
Overall, I felt the pacing was well done, as information could be sparse, it kept you going and whilst not a long story, it didn’t feel as though it should have been a different length.
Generally, the characters were interesting, it felt as though everyone was painted a spectrum of grey with their own motivations and as such it didn’t particularly matter to me if I did or didn’t dislike them. Something that can be a challenge when an author clearly makes their intent for how you should feel known and your experience doesn’t quite line up. I did feel there were a few unneeded secondary characters but overall it felt like a tight rein had been kept.
Ultimately this felt like a story for those looking for a gothic, potentially supernatural read, unafraid of the sometimes disturbing and cruel.