Ever since I've heard about this book, I've wanted to read it for a number of reasons. (1) It gives off serious 'The Woman In Black' vibes and I LOVE that book. I've missed good, atmospheric horror! (2) It won the Costa Book Award, and my past reviews show that winners of that award tend to be books that I enjoy a lot. (3) I've read a LOT of YA as of late and having fallen into a bit of a book slump, I want to see if a different genre will snap me out of it. Now that I've read it? I have to say that despite enjoying it, I was a teeny bit disappointed on all three fronts. There was a lot of hype surrounding this book and it didn't quite live up to it for me.
Let's start with the good stuff: the atmosphere! It was definitely there and I loved reading the descriptions of The Loney and it's nearby village and shrine. Compared to the hustle and bustle of London that is described at certain points, it felt like a wild, desolate, lonely place ruled only by nature and unseen forces that will not be tamed by men or women, no matter how hard they try. Hurley's writing can in no way be faulted: it's beautiful. With such a strong prose, it's easy to see WHY the book has received so much praise. There were hints to the supernatural and a strong look at religion and how it can affect human behaviour, which I loved! I have to say, I was a pretty big fan of the character work too. Aside from the narrator who had very little personality (acting as more of an observer than anything) they were all distinctive and unique individuals and their relationships with each other were well explored.
Sadly, there were things about this book that mean it stayed at 'good' and stopped it from being 'great' for me. Firstly, there was no REAL plot. There was an element of mystery to it, that's for sure, but I didn't really feel like it started from or finished at anything substantial. This was partly because I was expecting to be spooked, even to find myself a ghost amongst the pages. If that's what you think you'll get with this book, you will be disappointed. The ending left me with more questions than answers too I'm afraid. Hurley clearly puts a lot of stock in the power of suggestion and the human imagination, but I would have liked things a little more clear cut and I didn't fully understand much of what happened in those final chapters. My final niggle was not a big one, but I have to say I felt like I was reading a story much older than it actually was; late 1800s to early 1900s maybe, at a stretch around the second World War. Imagine my shock when I found out the book was set in the 1970s! It's all very well throwing televisions and a bit of modern technology into the mix, but I like a SENSE of time period in the writing too. It felt dated.
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![The Loney: 'The Book of the Year 2016' by [Andrew Michael Hurley]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51zgPAvR1BL._SY346_.jpg)
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