I really wanted to like this. The stuff about the folk tale was great, particularly all the different versions she kept finding and how that tied in with the story of her past – genius, wish I'd thought of it. The prose is good too, not obnoxiously literary or too simplistic, but right in the middle.

I think the problem is that I'm just not interested in cults, and I'm particularly not interested in Charles Manson. I seem to be the only one, as it seems like most books/films about the Manson family do well in the US. I don't get it – like most people I've read Helter Skelter, and that filled any need I had to know about Manson. He's just not very interesting, and neither are cults in general to me. If it hadn't focused so heavily on the 60s/70s cult experience, the tedious back-and-forth conversations between a bunch of idiots on drugs, the power play of this mediocre cult-leader – if it was mostly focused on the protagonist's research into folk tales and the variety of stories, I'd have been into it.

Still, can't be annoyed that a book isn't what I want it to be.

Definitely a book that "imprisons" the reader and releases him only at the end. Wonderfully written, highly recommended ♥