My first Tana French novel and won’t be my last. It’s starts quite slow, spends lots of time building mainly unlikeable characters and I was tempted to give up many times. However once the mystery is revealed I was hooked and loved the whodunnit storyline. A very enjoyable read.

Ok, I really struggled with this book and nearly ditched it. It rambles on far to long and the main character was not likeable. The body was almost an afterthought and whilst expecting a murder mystery it was just the character coping with his head injuries! Thanks to #NetGalley for the early read but I personally wouldn’t recommend it #TheWychElm

I read this book expecting it to be a crime story. Indeed it starts with a crime, an attack on Toby, the main character. However the book develops in an unexpectedly different way. The effect of the attack has left Toby changed, he views himself and everything around him quite differently. When a skull is found in the garden of a family home once again the story changes and the reader is taken through the relationships of Toby and his family. The book keeps you guessing the whole time and the end is equally surprising. Highly recommend.

At the start of The Witch Elm, Toby Hennessy introduces himself by saying, “I’ve always considered myself to be, basically, a lucky person”. This is the first line of the novel, in fact, and proves to be the key to its dark heart.

The unfolding story deconstructs that statement. It confronts Toby with the fact that - despite feeling that his life changed beyond recognition after being beaten to oblivion in the early chapters - he has always been, basically, oblivious.

Luck? Is it really ‘luck’ that gave young, white, male, middle-class, able-bodied, straight, handsome Toby Hennessy a leg-up in life? Just dumb luck? This is a novel about power and privilege.

The story is set in the elegantly dilapidated surroundings of Ivy House, a mansion belonging to uncle Hugo, where Toby spent childhood summers with his cousins, Susanna and Leon. At times, The Witch Elm takes on the air of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, as the three cousins meander through the pages, drinking good wine, slagging less-fortunate ‘skangers’ and philosophising at length. No-one (except uncle Hugo) is especially sympathetic and some of these sections amble.

But French has an important point to make, symbolised by Ivy House. The cousins inhabit the same world - literally the same house - but different realities. A macabre discovery in a tree in the garden, the wych elm of the title, forces Toby to dig back into their shared and unshared past experiences.

A departure from her Dublin Murder Squad series, Tana French once again offers a work of literary fiction that happens to feature a murder. The story is slow moving and character led. It won’t please fans of the rapid page-turner, although sections of the novel - especially the build up to the ending - are gripping. Both frustrating and brilliant, its strength hits after the ending; rather like the giant wych elm, you only realise the magnitude and scale of the ideas after stepping away and regarding it from a distance.

I'd heard so much good stuff about Tana French, so I was excited to be given access to this book.

I can't say that it is not well written, but I personally found it very slow. It's very rare that I give up on a book, but I could just not make headway with this one.

Well written, but not foŕ me.

This book I enjoyed for the most part however the plot, which is fantastic, stops completely in places and goes off on a tangent and becomes a little monotonous.. At times the storyline is fast paced and kept me completely hooked and I loved it, but this didn't last
The characters are well written and really likeable, but far too much procrastinating which makes this tale stall in places. There are lots of twists and turns and possibilities of who the murdered is which is interesting, however the route to the reveal veers of course at most turns. Such a shame as the story excellent and when it was good it was brilliant.

The novel started at a fast pace and pulled me in to the story I was excited and exhilarated but then it wandered, it went on a stroll and basically got so bogged down that I. lost interest in who killed who.

There are times less is more.

A good story ruined by too many words.

The characters in this book were interesting and different and the story kept you guessing until the end. The family were turbulent and quirky, as families are in real life! The only thing I would have loved to see included would have been more of a reference to the old tale of Bella in the Wych Elm but overall great.

Sadly this book was not for me. I struggled with the story and pace. I could not get into it.
Thank you to both NetGalley and Penguin Books uk for my eARC of this book in exchange for my honest unbiased review

A slow burn in the beginning with lots of descriptions about the Ivy House - the initial incident in the flat was brutal and critical to the plot. I really liked the twist until the last 20-30 pages happened- what on earth was the author thinking? I can’t see for a moment why that was needed

The house is a character in itself and despite the 1st person narrative the entire family are well drawn and engaging - the only thing missing was a large sloppy Labrador!

Well managed plot lines (ignore the ending) all fold together eventually and all in all a great read.

I LOVE Tana French (not a controversial statement, obviously) and was absolutely delighted (squealing out loud and crowing on Twitter) when I got a yes from the Netgalley deities meaning I didn't have to wait until February to read her new book. Thank you Netgalley deities and Penguin books.

So, first thing, this is not a Murder Squad book. I know, we are all impatient for the next (there will be a next? Right?) installment of imo probably the best detective series ever written, but don't worry because this standalone is a beautifully written, eloquent, tense and twisty family melodrama like an Irish mash up of the Secret History and the Cazalets. And if that doesn't have you salivating then we will never be friends.

The book is written in the first person and our narrator is Toby. Toby is a golden boy, descended from well to do Anglo-Irish, privately educated, working in social media, lifestyle subsidised by his parents thanks to a generous deposit on his flat. He is loving life. He adores his girlfriend, Melissa, has close friendships with his old school friends. Nothing worries him, although a recent work issue came as close as anything could, only he is pretty sure he managed to talk his way out of culpability with his usual charm. So there he is, in a pub with his best mates, planning a lads holiday and thinking about proposing to his girlfriend. But that night everything changes...

A brutal assault robs Toby of not just his health, but his sense of self, his confidence, his golden luck and many of his memories. Bowed and beaten he retreats to the Ivy House to take care of his beloved uncle, Hugo, as Hugo's health deteriorates. The Ivy House is the old family home, and as a child and teen, Toby and his cousins Leon and Susanna ran wild every summer, childhood adventures growing into teenage parties. There, Toby begins to heal, but a discovery by Susanna's children shakes his life up once again - there's a skull in the old hollow elm.

As the police get involved and a body is discovered Toby has to reexamine himself, his fractured memories and to wonder if he ever knew himself or his cousins at all. The tension ramps up to an almost unbearable level as we, along with Toby, try to make sense of who and what he was back then, as he realises that maybe he was never really golden at all...

This is an absorbing read, meticulously plotted, beautifully written, with a wonderful sense of place and character. The kind of book you need to clear your schedule for because putting it down is unbearable. So why 4 stars not 5? I'm keeping this review spoiler free, so all I will say is the ending left me with a LOT of feelings, feelings I am still working my way through. I may decide, after a reread, it was a 5 after all, but while I'm still processing it's a 4. But read it. And then come talk to me about the ending...

I would like to thank Netgalley and Penguin Books (UK) for an advance copy of The Wych Elm, a stand alone set in Dublin.

Toby Hennessy wakes up to find intruders in his flat and is almost killed in the ensuing struggle. Left with physical problems and severe mental trauma he isn’t coping until he and his girlfriend, Melissa, move in with his dying uncle, Hugo where he begins the process of healing, until a skull is found in the hollow trunk of a tree in the garden. Suddenly everything and everybody he thought he knew require reassessment.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Wych Elm which takes a long, languorous look at the aftermath of a crime and its effect on the surviving. Despite its slowness and length and the fact that it’s not my preferred genre (I like the puzzle of the investigation) I found myself hooked and turning the pages feverishly to see what was coming next. This I put down to the skill of Ms French’s plotting and the quality of her writing because it certainly isn’t due to any concern about her characters and their fate as they are, en masse, singularly unappealing. I like the way she plays with perception and memory with everyone recalling things differently or putting an alternative spin on them. It’s not confusing, just interesting when you don’t know what to believe. I found the final twist astonishing and I’m still not sure what to make of it. Again, it’s a question of perspective and how you view the characters.

The novel is narrated by Toby in the first person which presents a few problems from the start. Due to the attack he has some brain injuries which affect his memory and concentration. Obviously this makes him an unreliable narrator, but not in the obvious way as he doesn’t outright lie, more that he has no memory and his thought processes are muddled. As the novel progresses, however, it become clear that there is more to his forgetfulness than his injuries. He has been so wrapped up in himself and his “lucky” life that he has the facility to dismiss anything that doesn’t directly affect him from his memory, but hey, he’s a nice guy. Whatever. His cousins, the other main protagonists in the novel, Suzanna and Liam aren’t much better, constantly bickering and sniping.

The Wych Elm is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

As with all Tana French books, The Witch Elm was gripping, intense and interspersed with moments of brilliant humour. For me, this was a really tricky decision between 3 and 4 stars, but ultimately I had to go with 3 - it took a very long time to get to the mystery of the book, and while the lead up was entertaining and insightful, it focused too heavily on Toby (the protagonist) while still leaving a lot of unknowns around characters like his cousins, who are also pretty key to the story.

The end section was completely shocking and a twist I didn't see coming at all - another incredible example of what makes French such an amazing writer. And while I normally love her flawed and stubborn and entirely relatable, I found Toby a bit of a bore at times, particularly when dealing with his cousins.

The Witch Elm takes an unflinching look at the limits of human suffering and endurance, physical and emotional, and the results are sometimes uplifting, sometimes ugly. This is a book that stays with you after finishing.

I love Tana French so I was really pleased to be given this to read. The characters were fascinating and I loved the interplay between the cousins. I did feel the book rambled a bit in the middle and could have done with a bit of pruning. Parts of the story were a stretch to be believable eg how much the main character can and can't remember. But I enjoyed the feeling of being mixed up in his head, and of watching the drama play out.

Thanks to Penguin Books UK and Netgalley for the advance reading copy.

I’ve heard a lot of people raving about Tana French so was chuffed when I got an ARC of this novel. The mystery of the body in the Wych Elm is something that has always fascinated me, and this is an interesting spin on the concept. If you’re interested in the real-life incident that helped to inspire this novel, the “Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm” episode of The Dark Histories Podcast gives a really good overview of it. I also have another book on my reading list that features a similar story so it will be interesting to read that too and compare. That said, this book is not a simple retelling of the real incident, it just has a similar main event.

This book follows Toby and the fallout from a life altering event that happens to him towards the beginning of the novel. I’d say the story takes rather a long time to get going, I think I was a good 20-30% into it before things really started happening. I’m not against a slow burn myself, but other fans of the crime/thriller genre may find it more difficult to stay interested. The author is clearly a great writer and the Dublin setting and supporting characters are portrayed well.

My main issue with this novel wasn’t its rather sedate pacing, but more to do with the sheer unlikeability of the main character Toby. He really is just an awful person. I’m aware that this is probably intentional, but his snide inner monologue just rendered me entirely unable to feel any empathy for him. The family dynamics are portrayed well, and the characters are for the most part interesting, but aside from Uncle Hugo, I didn’t find myself liking any of them. I struggle with the “everyone is a shitty person” trope in any form of media and it was the same for this book. The resolution to the main mystery was quite underwhelming too.

All that said, I still enjoyed reading it for the most part. The quality of the writing carried the less likeable aspects of the novel and the story was interesting enough to hold me attention. I’ll certainly be checking out some of the author’s other work based on this novel and the positive reviews i’ve read from others.

Having been a fan of Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad books for a few years, I was very excited to be approved to review a preview of her new book ‘The Wych Elm’ from Netgalley.

Tana French is an extremely skilled writer. The development of her characters is second to none. Using a first person narrative style, you are invited into the life an experience of the character and French brings an unusual depth and truth to every one. You won’t find yourself wondering if that character would *really* have done that, because these characters don’t read as authorial invention - they feel real.

Toby, the main character of this book, works in PR for a small art gallery in Dublin - his girlfriend, Melissa runs a small boutique selling unusual creations from local artists and crafts people. As such, they differ from the slightly grittier characters from French’s earlier books. However, she is still able to build Toby’s background in exceptional skill and detail, her observation of family relationships and her ability to cover a wide time frame from childhood to the present day allows the reader to understand Toby’s life in detail.

After an horrific attack in his own home, Toby goes to stay with his terminally ill uncle in a house evocative of his childhood. It’s here we first encounter the ‘Wych Elm’, a tree in the extensive garden that has undertones of malice and danger from the first mention. ‘We used to climb those trees all the time’ [...] ‘Right, and then you fell out of that exact one and broke your ankle, you were in a cast for - Zach! Get down right now.’

Of course the tree itself then becomes central to the plot - an elaborate whodunit as Toby endeavours to unpack his own fractured memories and draw connections between all the events of the novel. Hovering on the outskirts of the story are the policemen who are typical of French’s other novels - sharp, gritty characters who leave no stone unturned.

Spoilers below

I have read other reviews who found Toby a completely unlikeable character and thus didn’t like the novel. I didn’t feel this way - he is definitely imperfect and frustrating in his sheltered view - I can’t believe that someone would be quite as self centred as he is painted. His cousins point out that anything unpleasant that has happened to him just ‘drops out’ of his head. In fact his cousins are infinitely more interesting characters, which we only really discover towards the end of the novel. However, his fractured memory is very useful in making him an unreliable narrator which adds an extra dimension to the investigation.

I was, however, intensely disappointed in the character of Melissa - who, by contrast, is painted as the most perfect character to ever exist (which does leave you wondering why she’s even with Toby). In fact this perfection results in her being a bit insipid. She hovers on the edge of the story - to be honest I was expecting a twist towards the end of the novel where it is revealed that she masterminded the whole lot. Instead she just fades out of existence which is a little disappointing to be honest.

This one wasn't for me.

Spoilers ahead!

Mostly I'm fed up with the use of violence against women in these books and the 2 main female characters were infuriating, to me at least. Melissa is barely a human being, displaying all the behaviour complexity of a stoned labrador. Our narrator is an interesting one, not a good guy, nor a bad one, but interesting. My switching between disliking him and finding him fascinating kept me reading. And the plot is steady, verging on slow. Overall, not for me.

Although I love this author I struggled with this book sorry and found it rather slow. I liked the underlying story but couldn’t really get into the book however it is a clever novel.

Reading The Wych Elm was like a rollercoaster ride in a very slow motion. You are slowly going up the hill, gradually building up the excitment, waiting to reach the top. In The Wych Elm, the first 'going up' takes longer than usual. You think you must be near the top, you check your watch, look around... surely, any minute now? Hell no! You are only half way up!
I can understand why some readers might decide to abort this rollercoaster ride before reaching the top and opt for a more balanced ride such as a Big Wheel.

Once the cart tips over at the top (at one third of the book), you feel a sudden rush of adrenaline and euphoria for a few pages. And then you find yourself climbing again for another while. For those who persist, the big dips start to come more often and the enjoyment is progressivelly greater and greater. When you think the ride is coming to an end and you are ready to disembark, you find yourself at the top again with the deepest dip in front of you which you NEVER saw coming!

I truly enjoyed my rollercoaster ride, especially the grand finale. Sure, the book drags on a bit at the start but I didn't mind. I found French's writing exquisite and engaging. The main character Toby comes across as a bit of an asshole, but after everything that happened to him I felt sorry for him and warmed up to him.

This was my first Tana French book and now I'm super keen to explore her other work.

Many thanks to Penguin Books UK for an e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Wych Elm is a move away from the traditional thriller for Tana French, as she examines the life and slow decline of Toby, a privileged Dubliner who moves to the country to look after his terminally ill uncle following a traumatic brain injury.

This is a book very much about our main character Toby. He’s led a privileged life, spoilt and good looking, everything just seems to fall at his feet. Yet the events at the beginning of the book start a spiral of events that see us watch him plunge into a physically and mentally decline. Toby’s a charismatic character, who is certainly engaging enough to carry the story. He’s multifaceted, well rounded and complicated. Flawed. Is he likeable? Not really, and I think this was one of my main problems with the book. I didn’t like Toby, had no emotional connection with him, and just didn’t end up really caring about him. For a novel that relied so heavily on its lead character, this was a major problem.

The secondary characters who support Toby, from his girlfriend Melissa to his dying Uncle Hugo and everyone in between also feel fully formed, colourful and just full of life. There’s a strong sense of familial bonds running throughout the novel, as they support (and sometimes hinder) Toby and his life. Tana French seems to be extremely good at creating characters that jump off the page.

But running alongside all this character development there’s no plot to support it. The pace is achingly slow, at times there are pages and pages about how Toby is feeling, and his meandering round his uncle’s house, but there’s just nothing going on. It takes until about half way through the novel before the pace ramps up slightly with the discovery of a human skull in the garden - but unfortunately by this point my interest was severely waning.

The ending is also deeply sad, and there’s just a general feeling of despair and melancholy that runs throughout the story, to the point where I was left feeling rather down on finishing it.

Wonderful character development, but an unlikeable main character and no plot just made this a difficult read.