This is my second novel based on the Tam Lin folk ballad and I must say I am extremely disappointed. I like the Tam Lin myth and I found this book extremely and utterly boring. Let's have the plot first from Amazon:

In 1558, while exiled by Queen Mary Tudor to a remote castle known as Perilous Gard, young Kate Sutton becomes involved in a series of mysterious events that lead her to an underground world peopled by Fairy Folkwhose customs are even older than the Druids" and include human sacrifice


The plot and the fact that it's based on one of my favorite tales should have made this a great read. That and the praise that seems to follow this book everywhere. So what went wrong? I can't put my finger on it. All I can say is that there was nothing motivating me to go on reading.

The character of Kate, our heroine, is bland and given to sudden silly outbursts for really stupid reasons. The hero, Christopher, is no better. One of the things that really bugged me was how one minute they couldn't fathom for one second that faeries exited and the next they are all but going after them. They, especially our heroine, are portrayed as religious therefore they cannot accept such pagan thoughts. The next thing you know they are utterly convinced that it was the Fey that took Christopher's niece a while back. Up to this "realization" Christ was adamant that the girl was dead and it was his fault for not watching her and that she fell into the Healing Well and drowned. He has lived with this guilt eating away at him and will accept no respite from wallowing in his misery. Then it takes Kate barely a few sentences to convince him without a shadow of a doubt that it's the Fey that did it.

Huh?

I found this a little too convenient. That along with the bland characters and the writing, which felt stiff and without any emotion, made me not care what happened to any of the characters or how this would end up.

A very disappointing Did Not Finish.

4 comments:

I read this when I was younger and still occasionally re-read it. I liked it. Thats just me I guess.

I know a lot of people love and rec this book. It seems I am in the minority. ^__^

Sorry you didn't like this book. I like the story of Tam Lin so will keep a look out for books based on the story.

This book sucked balls!!!!!!!!!

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Since I was a little girl I have been fascinated with books. Early photos show me with a book in hand, even if it was not exactly my reading level... My first word was a made-up word meaning 'book', actually. I suppose I had my priorities at an early age... Over the years my interest in books has become one of the defining features of who I am as a person. You can probably call me a bookworm. While I have other interests, reading will always be the one I talk about the most, even if I am not focusing on it as much as I used to.

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