My Thanks to Netgalley and Viking for an A R C of this book. I’d heard much about Tana French but never actually read any of her work. And I liked the sound of the synopsis. So this seemed a good opportunity. Unfortunately wrong. From the beginning it just didn’t grab me. I read for personal pleasure and regrettably I got none of that from this novel. I gradually found it not so much un-put-down able as un-pick up-able.

It’s set in Dublin and centres around Toby, a twenty something who has always led a charmed life. He came from a well heeled middle class family, was educated at an expensive private school and then university. Everything has always gone well for him, he has the best of everything and he seems to feel entitled, if he thinks about anything much at all. Then things do start to go seriously wrong for him when he is attacked within an inch of his life by burglars who break into his up market flat, which of course he owns and take , amongst other things, his Porsche .He spends many weeks in hospital, only partially recovering. The family arrange for him to go and stay at the family home, The Ivy House, to keep his Uncle Hugo company as he deteriorates from a terminal brain tumour. His girl friend, the long suffering Melissa goes with him. His cousins, of the same age with whom he has grown up, make frequent appearances at The Ivy House.. It was all very depressing. I just didn’t want to read pages of introspection, self pity and self analysis. I wasn’t interested. It was a third of the way into the book before the scull turned up in the Wych Elm tree and I thought perhaps we might be getting somewhere. But no. It was more of the same slow analysis.

It was taking me an awfully long time to get through it, but I had requested it so I persevered. That is until I got nearly 50% in and I just had to give up. I dipped through the other half to see where the story was going.. I felt guilty about this but just couldn’t take any more. I was finding it deeply depressing which means that the writing must have been good to produce even this negative reaction. I had to ask myself two questions. Was this book well written ? Yes probably. Did you enjoy it ? No, definitely not. Reading other reviews it seems that this book may not be typical of Tana French’s work. Perhaps I’ll try another of her novels - - - sometime in the future.

I am a massive fan of the Tana French Dublin Murder Squad books so I was excited to receive this but unfortunately it fell a bit flat. It just seemed a bit slooow. The premise was good but felt like a bit of a chore reading it - which I'm disappointed about. Had it been any other author this may have been a more positive review but I guess that I was expecting a lot and it just didn't deliver :(

My first Tana French so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was pleased to see it was a stand-alone novel but daunted by its bulk, needlessly as it turned out since it is absolutely absorbing and the pages flew by. A mystery for sure, a police procedural too, but mostly this is an exploration of identity and the effect a person’s self-image and the image they project to others has on their lives.

Tana French writes characters so well and, for me, these are the main strength of the book. With the exception of the unlikely elfin creature, Melissa, whose role seems to be to flit in and out sprinkling fairy dust on occasions that threaten to become too gloomy and maudlin, the characters created are spot on, utterly believable and engaging. I was especially taken with the cool and calculating detective Rafferty.

Toby’s experience is central. Before his head injury, he had been one of the ‘lucky ones’, sailing through life effortlessly, never expecting anything less than success and oblivious to others’ difficulties. When he no longer comes across as an alpha male and finds himself no longer treated as one, and when people remind him of events that he either remembers differently or doesn’t remember at all, his confidence is shaken and he is forced to reassess himself - how can the Toby he used to be and the Toby he is now be versions of the same person at all? Terrifically well written and totally riveting.

The Wych Elm by Tana French a four-star read that will suck you deep. This one was a difficult one for me, at times I couldn’t get through the pages quick enough and then at others I struggled to finish one page. I couldn’t decide on a rating to give it, I veered between two and five through different parts of the novel, but overall, I did enjoy it. Watching Toby as he goes through this massive traumatic event and then watching his life unfold after the event and how he goes about figuring life now that its not what he expected, it was like getting into someone’s head and seeing inside in real life. There was just that deep a level of character development and history to them. I haven’t read anything by this author, so I don’t know if it’s different from other works written, but I will have to see about picking them up and giving one of them a whirl.

This book is not for me. I struggled to engage with the storyline. The characters were rather unpleasant. Personally I found it to be a difficult read.

As a big fan of the Dublin Murder Squad books, I was really excited to be able to read this book via NetGalley. Very near the start of the book is a brutal and shocking attack, and then the pace slows down as we follow the recovery and subsequent events in the life of the narrator Toby. Very diffierent in tone and momentum from her detective books Tana French is more in exploratory mood, creating background and atmosphere as the story rather meanders. I do think the book is rather too long, and as a result there were periods when I was tempted to skip read to move the plot along. However, certainly a very well written and interesting book, and will certainly have me looking out for more Tana French ‘standalone’ novels.

I've loved all of Tana French's detective novels and was expecting another similar novel here. However 'The Wych Elm' is very different, telling the complicated tale of an apparently isolated crime from the point of view of that victim, rather than the detective. It is a very slow burn, particularly at the beginning, but repays your persistence if you stick with it, turning into an interconnected series of events and unintended consequences and finally into a satisfying revelation of the threads that tie into the initial crime. It uses a clever mixture of nostalgic memories of a simpler age and modern technology as a backdrop to the unfolding discoveries and explores the gradual recovery of those involved. I found it an engrossing, sometimes unsettling read, which was well worth seeing through to the end.

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.