I had high hopes for this book as the synopsis sounded very good and having read other books by Tana French I was looking forward to another good read but sadly not for me.
Unlikeable characters, a lot of dithering and I was about half way through the book before the story really got going. I found myself dipping in and out and I just wasn't motivated to pick it up.
I would read more by Tana French as have enjoyed previous books butt this one just didn't work for me.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I like this author and all the other books she has written but really not sure about this one at all. It was hard work for my liking

Not quite what I was expecting. Unlikeable characters and an unrealistic storyline meant this book was a bit of a slog rather than the unputdownable thriller I was expecting. This is the first book I have read by Tana French and I was expecting great things after reading previous reviews but this didn’t live up to expectations.

Rather tedious read and repetative. Sounds like many families with problems and not many characters that you could like or fell sorry for. Many clues along the way and fairly easily solved near the end although the last chapter is a bit different.

A psychological crime mystery to remember

Loved Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad detective novels but this is quite different and much longer. The protagonist here is the victim, Toby, rather than the detective. Toby is an unlikable character to start with: pampered, self-satisfied, careless of the effect of his actions on other people and confident that his charm (or his parents if there's money involved) will let him get away with anything. After he is violently attacked, this changes. He goes to recuperate at his uncle's rambling old property, Ivy House, in a plush part of Dublin, where another key event takes place. Gradually you realise that he is not so self-assured now. Physically and mentally damaged, he becomes fearful for his life and questions whether he really trusts certain members of his large Irish family, or indeed himself.

Strong characterisation, descriptive writing (especially of the overgrown garden at Ivy House) and frequent twists in the plot make this a book to remember, though it has a rather slow start. Persevere, it's worth it!

A standalone by one of the best crime authors currently at work – I could hardly wait to read this one. And yet, it was disappointing. Far too much background – the story only gets going about halfway through, and even then there is too much dithering.

I was lucky enough to get my hands on a Netgalley advance copy and couldn't wait to read the latest Tana French novel. Though the pacing was a bit too slow for me, it still had the simmering psychological aspects that I so love in her writing. The protagonist in this story is the victim rather than a murder detective. French revisits similar themes and settings, but as usual, by the time I got to the end I was, and am still, thinking about what it all means - in a good way!

I had high hopes for this book, the synopsis sounded fascinating. Sadly, I was disappointed. I found a lack of sympathetic characters, and by the time I reached an obvious key event I really didn't care what happened or why. The lead character is singularly unlikable - whining, self-obsessed, entitled. While characters don't need to be entirely positive, I found nothing to engage with here. He is surrounded by a family and social circle who all appear to dislike, if not actively loath one another.
I appreciate that this style has its devotees, but I found it overlong and slow.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book, it almost has mini stories running through it and has you questioning so much of what is going on. Well written.

I read this book off the back of a Stephen King article in the New York Times where he described it as an extraordinary book, and in my opinion it certainly didn't disappoint.

There's something about a book that is 500+ pages that has to be written in a compelling enough way to keep my interest for that long, and Tana French managed to achieve this for all 620 of them.

All the characters are firmly believable, the story itself is excellent (once again, believable), and the writing style kept me both gripped and interested throughout. It was one of those stories where you don't find out what actually happened very close to the end, and a manner of suspects were plausible. It all unravelled to an excellent end with a little added surprise too!

I was delighted that I got hold of this book and will certainly be going back to The Dublin Murder Squad books.

Took me a while to warm to this one but when I did it was as engaging & un-put-down-able as Tana French's other novels. Yes it is different, but that is a great thing. The background and scene setting really add to the story which kept me engaged to the end.

I have only read one other book by Tana French before - the first installment of the Dublin Murder Squad ("In The Woods") - but I never really wanted to pick up another one. However, "The Wych Elm" is a standalone novel and it sounded intriguing - after one fateful night the main character's life is changed unrecognizably, and shortly afterwards a gruesome discovery makes him question what does he really know about his life, his past and his family. I really enjoyed the book - in fact I stayed up till late at night to finish it (always a sign of a truly absorbing book)! There is not much action here, but the attention of the author concentrates on the main character, Tony, who is robbed and beaten nearly to death, and afterwards struggles with different health issues, including memory loss. Having moved to his uncle's house he hopes to recover physically and psychologically, but instead, he needs to deal with a police investigation, which turns his life further upside down. His closest family and friends seems to hold different memories of his life than he does, his digging in the past also upsets his girlfriend, and his friends come up with some unwanted truths. All this means that the reader also revises their opinion about the characters - their motives, actions and if they are actually likeable. But be warned, if you like fast action - this is a slow psychological thriller, building the tension step by step till the unexpected ending. I am very happy that I have read this book - whereas gory action packed crime novels are not my thing at all, I am slowly starting to appreciate psychological thrillers which make you think.

I enjoyed this story. It was well written, and the characters were well developed. The atmosphere of a family with secrets was well paced and believable. Overall I would recommend it.

This is perhaps a long read, but I think that's deliberate .. we are seeing Toby's makeup and by extension, his friends. They feel they own the world, their small sins are dismissable .. and that's what hearkens in his case when a PR exercise goes wrong. Beaten to within an inch of his life, things spiral down as those accumulated lapses, and short cuts of the privileged kick in too protect and cocoon these people .. Susannah whose lethal reaction to sexual harassment we sense was hopelessly inevitable says it : my action was ruthless but I discovered I always was. And these self confident wealthy types can rely on such inherent character traits to see them through beating, trials, even prison and coping with cops. Really intriguing and brilliant analysis of what less well heeled, well educated would not have escaped: murder and betrayals.

Absolutely brilliant - she is one of the very best crime/thriller writers around. The writing is outstanding, the characters fully believable, the mood and sense of place deeply sinister. Unputdownable.

It took me a little while to get into this, but once I did, I could not stop reading it. So gripping.

This is an excellent book about family loyalties, of what we think we know against what actually happened and of how we very rarely see ourselves as others see us. This is juxtaposed with the main character's recovery from a severe brain injury, the illness of a pivotal family member and the destruction of relationships through deceit and secrecy. All of this sounds both depressing and complicated but in no way is it anything but enthralling and descriptively clear. The story flows and everything fits together in such a way that although no stone is left unturned it isn't until the very end that you discover just how insignificant the first step was and how complete your knowledge now is.

I was gripped from the very start; the first person voice of Toby drew me straight in and didn't relax its grip until the end. We follow him and discover things as he does. The home of his youth, now beginning to decay along with his rose coloured view of his childhood, becomes both Toby's salvation and his prison. He has to grapple with his own mortality as well as the realisation that he has never been as cool, comfortable and in control as he'd imagined himself to be.

In many books I've read recently the action tapers off towards the end as there are inconsequential loose ends to tie up. This wasn't the case here and I was surprised at the final turn of events which with hindsight would have left the story incomplete had they happened any differently.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this novel thanks to Netgalley in return for an unbiased review and have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone who enjoys a baffling murder, a family drama and a character driven story, as this book has all that and more.

I’ve not previously read Tana French, and, having initially not read the blurb properly i recalled it as being a horror. It isn’t in a classic horror sense, but it’s a horrifying insight into the recovery from a traumatic brain injury at the same time as attempting to uncover a mystery based around the Wych Elm in the old family home. The lengthy, twisty, tale flies by with a cracking mix of family drama, crime, revenge thriller and an unreliable narrator with memory problems. It’s expertly constructed and i fully bought into the relationships and was able to take the more unlikely developments as realistic...ish!

This story is about Toby. He is one of those really lucky people. He is good looking, charming, has a great job and lovely understanding girlfriend until one night everything changes. His life starts to go downhill rapidly.

It is quite hard to describe this book. It is part mystery, part family drama, part character study. As a person who normally shies away from longer books this kept me interested despite the lack of action for a big part of the book. Saying that I felt that this book could have been cut down quite a bit.

I have read all of the previous novels by Tana French and have loved them all. This did not disappoint and, although different, I found this exceptionally good.

The story is told from the viewpoint of Toby, who is from a privileged background and upbringing. One night his whole world changes when he is attacked in his own home and the world he knew no longer exists. He struggles to cope with it all and decides to go back to the ancestral home to look after a dying uncle.

A discovery is made in the back garden in the Wych Elm tree and the family have their lives turned upside down.

This is outstandingly well written and at times graphically unnerving. Loved it.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Books UK, Viking and Tana French for my ARC in return for my honest review.

Excellent read and highly recommended.