I didn't quite understand this story. I thought it was interesting, but still left too many questions unanswered. It's not a very long read, but reads quick enough to hold the interest of a middle schooler and YA.

This book definitely fell flat for me. That being said, the writing style is engaging, it just lacked substance within the plot.

The countryside always has seemed to be the source of most english folklore and fairytales and The White Hare certainly uses this to its advantage. A beautifully magical blend of teenage angst, myth and magic

It was very hard for me to finish this book, I almost quit a couple of times. I didn't like the characters, the plot was very confusing and random at times, and at some points I couldn't even figure out what was going on. Also, I don't think this book is really for children, it seems more aimed to adults. I was magical and mysterious and that's what made me pick this one, but the plot was simply bad.

This is my first Michael Fishwick book and I was pleasantly surprised. It was a movingly-told, coming-of-age story that infused the writing with myth and mystery. It reminded me a little of Neil Gaiman's style of writing. It was atmospheric and haunting, and I would definitely recommend it.

<p>I don't know. I kind of just want to say that and be done with it. I don't know. </p>

<p><A href="https://www.librarything.com/work/19166484/book/143937334">The White Hare</a> is like walking into a movie part-way through. You know you missed something, and you spend more time deciding if it's worth it than in actually following along to what little you have left. It isn't as if I necessarily dislike books that start with a sink-or-swim attitude (see <a href="https://www.librarything.com/work/9328091">The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet</a> for example); I just floundered through this one. </p>

<p>Oooh -- I figured it out. It isn't like a half-way done movie. It's like those magic eye posters. I never ever ever saw anything in those, but other people said they did, and the most I ever saw was a wiggle, maybe, before giving myself a massive headache. I feel something must be there, so I keep looking. But how much work should a book be? Maybe if I was more tied to the land in the novel (somewhere in England, I'm not sure where), to the mythos of the white hare, to why these people believe in it, I would see what Fishwick portrays. But all I see are squiggles of arson, parental death, blended families, suicide, stalking, magical bunny rabbits (yes, I know bunny rabbits are not hares, but I like typing <i>bunny rabbits</i> more than I like typing <i>hares</i>), corrupt local raffle draws. Simultaneously overcrowded, yet at the same time, sparse. </p>

<p>I can't say it was worth the effort on my part. But I'm still staring at that rotten magic eye, making myself sick.</p>

<p><A href="https://www.librarything.com/work/19166484/book/143937334">The White Hare</a> by Michael Fishwick went on sale March 9, 2017.</p>

<p><small>I received a copy free from <a href="https://www.netgalley.com/">Netgalley</a> in exchange for an honest review.</small></p>

When Robbie's new step family make the move to a quiet village it is less of the escape from their troubles they thought it would be. It seems history is repeating itself and their past mistakes have returned to haunt them. Robbie, in particular, has become the target for a malevolence in the village no one can seems willing to put a name to, and even new friend, Mags, seems unwilling to help him discover why the past won't leave him alone.

Despite this being aimed at a far younger audience than myself, I found portions of this book made for pretty terrifying reading! It was less the actual events that caused this terror, than the building of tension that had me white knuckled and breathless. This is also what made this a one-sitting read.

The strange uncertainty that permeates the text also caused much of my confusion. I was at a loss as to what was real, what was an object of Robbie's imagination, and what was a creation of my own. Sometimes this worked in the books favour, for me, but other times it was just purely confusing.

Despite the thrilling tension, looking back I find that little actually occurred for much of the book. I did enjoy my actual reading of this, but the story was buoyed along by suspense that often didn't lead anywhere and, without this, would have been half the book it was.

This is a book that can be easily read in one sitting. It deals with different kinds of love and hurt/trauma spiced up with magic and old lore: the son who cries for her dead mother; the girl who killed herself for love and returns as a white hare to exact revenge on the lover who left her; people with second sight...
It is a curious story, sometimes weird, sometimes erie, sometimes plain strange. We get to follow Robbie after his mom dies and he is left to deal with a lot of rage as he and his father move to his dad's old town. There he befriends Maggs, a weird girl who knows a lot about old tales and folklore. Both of them find themselves in this warped story of love and loss, of repentance and vengeance.
I liked this book. I think when netgalley offered it it was also listed as a "children's book". I guess it would depend on the children, but I honestly find this book kind of adult-y...

I received an Advance reading copy from the publisher.

I knew this book had a grief theme linked with myth.

Robbie, whose mother has died shows realistically all the anger, sadness and confusion that a young man would probably display. His Dad has moved back to his home village having moved in with Sheila and her daughters​- another reason for Robbie to feel angry.

Parts of this book reminded me of Annabel Pitcher's My SIster LIves on the Mantelpiece in terms of the grief and move to a new location. However the book then introduces the mysterious Mags with her Emo type clothes and knowledge of folklore.

The White Hare of the title means different things to different people from an actual hare to a ghost . The folklore elements mingle in with the "real" story in an enigmatic way. This is not a book that explains things but let's the reader interweave the strands for themselves.

Robbie is a convincing character whose good qualities mix with his explosive anger in a psychologically convincing way. Mags remains enigmatic and unexplained.

This is a coming of age novel with a twist. Another reviewer compared it with Caiman's Ocean at the end of the Lane. This book has a similar power and supernatural element without its skill. Overall it was a fresh book for the Young Adult section which I shall recommend to readers of Gaiman and Sedgwick.

It was incredibly refreshing to read a literary MG novel. This book didn't focus on romance or the pressure of school and homework, and I'm pleased to see that there is an alternative out there for younger readers.
The story touches on some difficult issues – death, suicide, betrayal – but at its heart is the legend and folklore of the area and the possible consequences. In many ways this felt like an adult book that simply had teens as its protagonists, and whilst I am a huge fan of the many wonderful MG and YA books available today, I was happy to have stumbled across this narrative.

Lovely little book. Robbie, a young boy, who has recently lost his mum, moves from London to the country with his Dad, his new step mum, and new siblings. He's not a happy boy and the move is the result of him going a little haywire whilst in London. Robbie is friendless until he meets Mags, an older girl full of mystery. Mags having lost her best friend is suffering a loss of her own.
The book is steeped in local folklore, the legend of the white hare playing centre stage. This is a coming of age book that deals with some difficult subjects well. Suicide and bullying are covered, alongside young love, and the dealing with the loss of a loved one. I can see this appealing to young adults: i'm sure they will love the moody atmosphere and have empathy with Robbie and his frustrations. In essence the author has created a modern day fairytale with a mix of darkness and magic.

The story is centred around a young boy, Robbie, who has been troubled and angry since the death of his mother. That anger seems to have followed him, his dad and his dad's new partner, as they have moved to a small rural village. Robbie has few friends but is drawn to other outsiders - Mags, an older girl who knows the land and its creatures intimately, and Alice, a sensible girl in his class who stand out as one very few black faces in the village. Mags shows him a mysterious white hare and swears him to secrecy - but will not say why. We gradually discover that the hare is strongly linked to some dark local legends but also that, just because something is legendary doesn't mean it isn't also very real.

This book is an exploration of Robbie's path through loss and grief but it is also a story of the mythology of an area. It delves into the mysterious and into the rather more mundane (although unpleasant) lives of a family with power over a small community.

A lovely coming of age story that deftly folds magic into reality, interweaving the threads of love and family and loss and growing up.into a mystery tale and haunting. I especially love the portrayal of connection with the land. This story will stay with me a long time.

Thank you to Netgally, the author and the publisher for providing me with this.

CONTENT
We get to know the stories of Mags and Robbie, who, both, have problems with their familiy/life. Mags is obsessed with hares, she knows more about them than most people. There is also a mysterious white hare, that keeps appearing.

STYLE OF WRITING
The writing was somehow.....strange? I did not know what the author intended. There were parts where I had trouble getting the meanings, and quite often, I could not imagine the things he wrote. Like, usually when I read a book, it's like a film in my head... this time I had recepton problems.

CHARACTERS
Robbie and Mags. Robbie has a criminal record, because he likes to set things on fire. Although you have to know, that he' s not a bad person, it's more like he lost his mother and does not know how to cope. He was okay. Mags however is strange, I did not like her, nor the way she acts, or how she treated Robbie. It did not feel like a friendship to me.

OPINION
I feel like I can't say anything about this book, that matters. It was just so.... nondescript. I did not learn from this book, I could not connect with the characters or the writing. I felt confused and kept wondering why I was reading this. I'm sorry because I love hares, and I wanted to like it. The blurb sounded awesome, but the more I read the less I wanted to continue.

The White Hare is not a book I would normally choose. I usually find myself drawn towards books with dark brooding dystopian nature. But wow am I glad I had the opportunity to review this book.
The book follows Robbie, a troubled teenage boy dealing with the grief of losing his mother and a difficult relationship with his father and Robbie’s new-found friend Mags who is also struggling to manage her own grief after the death of her best friend. img_6565
The story begins when Robbie, his dad and his new step family move to the country hoping to give Robbie a fresh start and also where Robbie’s new friend Mags introduces him to the myth of ‘the white hare’.
I am used to reading other world dystopia ya books, so this was a massively refreshing change for me, so much so that some of the beautiful writing was over my head. I found the style of writing almost poetic in places, I was perfectly placed with in this strange small village; full of whispers and tales.
I could have initially finished the book in one sitting but I purposely took my time wanting to absorb as much of the characters and descriptions as possible.
Michael Fishwick demonstrated wonderfully the difference in Robbie and Mags’ grieving; Robbie although being emotionally broken was extremely likable and was the voice of reason throughout. He was unstable yet relateable and sensible. Mags was flighty and mysterious and sometimes incredibly frustrating.
The White Hare is definitely a book that will stick with me for a very very long time and I would recommend to anyone and everyone but especially all that could appreciate what a great writer Michael Fishwick is.

Thank you NetGalley & Head of Zeus!!

"People don't move very far, Robbie, societies don't change, and their stories, and their legends, never die, and because we can't see things doesn't mean they aren't there"

* * *
3 / 5

I felt the same way reading The White Hare as I did when reading Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane: like I was reading something in a weird hazy dream, knowing that the book was good but not quite grasping it. It was like experiencing childhood again, that weird blur of reality and belief that the world is more magical than it really is. I have absolutely no doubt that anyone who enjoyed The Ocean at the End of the Lane or A Monster Calls will absolutely love this; Fishwick has nailed that interweaving of narrative threads about family, love, fear, loss, growing up, and wondering who you are and how you fit into the world.

"He and his dad had this in common, at least. The land was claiming him. There was a life to be had here"

Fourteen year old Robbie, suffering from the loss of his mother and annoyance at his father bringing a new woman, Sheila, and her children into his life, commits arson. His father decides the best move is to take the new family to the countryside, to the village where he grew up, hoping that this will rejuvenate Robbie but also seeking peace and closure for himself. Robbie befriends Mags, an older and parent-unapproved girl with a secret and a past that she can't leave behind. I really loved Robbie. I felt that Fishwick really pinned down the character of this hurting young man; Robbie is hurting, yes, but (despite the arson) is not aggressive or unlikeable, and he gets a lovely healing arc.

"The brutality of love. The desperation, the tide of misery that sweeps through you when you cannot have the one you want, the pain that's left behind that you can't endure, the callousness of the heart and its tenderness and frailty"

A well as being about Robbie and his loss, The White Hare is about a legend. When a woman takes her own life because of a lover, she might come back as a white hare, beautiful and elusive and hunted. Robbie wanders into Mag's story, one of love and loss and a white hare that she can't put out of her mind. The reader, like Robbie, is confused by what is happening, there's always this sense permeating the narrative that everything is not quite as it seems, that the truth is just out of your grasp.

"He couldn't see the stars so much because of the moonlight, you'd think they'd all fallen to earth, a little galaxy of orange streetlights sprinkled over the plain"

So why wasn't this book a higher rating for me, you ask? Frankly I was about 80% of the way into The White Hare before I started to get the point of the book. This was absolutely my fault, and it was the same problem I had with Gaiman's book: I was too busy trying to figure out what was 'real' and what wasn't to just go with the flow and appreciate the book. I also thought some of the secondary characters, like Sheila, her daughters, and the Strickland brothers weren't fully developed: Shelia was the standard stepmum to whom Robbie felt very negatively, understandably, but who never really did anything that deserved it, and I never really understood the motives of the Stricklands.

I definitely recommend The White Hare for anyone looking for a book about growing up mixed with delightful legends and a hint of magic hanging in the air. Fishwick writes in lovely prose and Robbie is a lovable main character.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

" The one who doesn't go straight home, the traitor,

The friendless one, the cat of the wood...'

A lost boy. A dead girl, and one who is left behind.

Robbie doesn't want anything more to do with death, but life in a village full of whispers and secrets can't make things the way they were.

When the white hare appears, magical and fleet in the silvery moonlight, she leads them all into a legend, a chase, a hunt. But who is the hunter and who the hunted?

In The White Hare, Michael Fishwick deftly mingles a coming-of-age story with mystery, myth and summer hauntings."


While this book is beautifully written, something just fell flat for me. I've come out of reading this more confused than when I went into it. The plot wasn't overly complex actually, I found there was little plot at all, but things didn't tie up neatly at the end. And with a book that is based around mystery and myths, you need that extra detail of why things happened and you just didn't get that with this book.

I didn't feel connected to any of the characters which is unusual for me, especially with the troubled main character. There was just something missing.

3/5* purely because it was written well. I was left with too many unanswered questions which was annoying rather than mysterious.

I really enjoyed this book. Beautifully written with enough mystery to keep you wondering, but enough detail to follow the story. Robbie is a likeable character and the way the loss of his mum was written about was very touching. I also liked Mags; troubled and mysterious, she is a good friend to Robbie. I loved the myths around the hares and learning, slowly throughout the book, how they played a part in the story. I am now going to look for more works by this author. I would say, however, that the book is more suited to older readers and not the 12+ suggested.

This book introduces us to Robbie and Mags. Robbie is a troubled boy who treats his anger by setting fire to things, however his arson in the past has gotten him into serious trouble before.
Mags has grown up in this countryside area surrounded by the woodland area watching for and keeping the hare's that she spots as pets.

Together, they both see a white hare and so sets off them trying to see the hare again. However, there's a good twist of events, warnings from the gang style Strickland brothers and a death. Also watch out for the neighbours, the Allardyces. The story tackles the idea of betrayal and mystery whilst also looking into how each person suffers with serious troubling issues in their lives such as losing a parent when you're very young, situations of bullying and anger issues.

Thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book.