Review of The Aviculturist
Posted: 14 Sep 2021, 05:37
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Aviculturist" by Ann Smythe.]
The Aviculturist by Ann Smythe, set in 1971 and 1995, tells the story of Lily Sanders, an artist who returns to her hometown called Lostmor after the death of her mother and remaining family. She is called by her mother’s solicitor for what she thought was a menial transaction but turned out to be more. While there, she struggles with the reemergence of memories from her traumatic childhood, whilst she and other individuals from the town become entangled as they face each of their pasts and witness the unraveling of the secrets they were searching for.
First off, I admire the ability of the author to pursue the human side of her characters by showcasing both their strengths and weaknesses. Almost all the characters were shown making mistakes while being self-aware enough that I did not feel a particular aversion towards them. I also thought that the writing was well done in a way that the dialogue seemed natural. Unlike most books that yearn to be dramatic and suspenseful, The Aviculturist didn’t cause me to cringe away from the characters’ conversations.
Although I do value these within a novel, there is still a lot that I was not truly on board with. Despite the human aspects of the characters, I didn’t completely like how they were executed. Sometimes, it felt like the rest of the person’s personality was an afterthought because it was essential to the unraveling of the plot. One of the examples of this is the father’s flirtatious- almost giggly- drunken demeanor when he was shown as a cold and hard man at the beginning. Another is Luke, who also seemed to shift so quickly personality-wise from an almost selfless and pragmatic older brother figure to an unhinged teen, despite being a grown adult.
Upon first glance, the book seemed like a suspense, thriller, and murder mystery novel, so I was pleased with how subtle the romantic subplots were. But then the mood started to shift to the romantic, albeit a little lackluster in terms of development. The shift took me by surprise, and then again when it went back to the nightmarish flashbacks of Lily, along with the tragic backstory of Marcus. I would have absorbed it better, had it been executed a little differently. The stories of the various characters were introduced one after the other with a large interval of chapters in between. These sudden changes in narrative felt intrusive and forced upon the reader. There was a lack of smooth transition in between that should have made me wish to find out more about the character that will soon be featured. Instead, every time a new character came to tell their story, I couldn’t help but be frustrated because I had no inclination to read about them because I wasn’t even the least bit curious about their backstory. In fact, Lily was the only character that I saw truly grew over time (prejudice against the other character aside), but even then, I didn’t feel as connected as I hoped to be with her. Maybe it’s the problem of having too many proxy-like characters in a single novel.
The initial curiosity I had about the suspense aspect of the novel was lost by the continuous lukewarm series of revelations, in exchange for a more romantic approach that did not exactly justify the means. I tried to give it the benefit of the doubt in the middle, thinking it would focus on the aspects of “moving on”, which will result in their escape from their horrific pasts, but I did not see much of it in the conclusion of the novel. A lot of their troubles felt like they were brushed under the rug, which could have been prevented with a more emotional and mental discourse expressed both externally and internally to show character development and not just the panning of the scenes from premise to ending.
Despite all these, I would give this book a 3 out of 4 stars. Ann Smythe did amazingly with her use of imagery. Had she chosen to emphasize or take on one of the genres she ambitiously made use of over the other, she could have maximized her skill to give life to a scene and more. And as I said before, her dialogue was witty and lighthearted enough that it seemed natural and realistic. Obviously, she has a lot of potential just from her debut novel, and I hope to see more of her talent as she develops her style of storytelling.
I would recommend The Aviculturist to those who are interested in the murder mystery genre but are not looking for anything too graphic, as well as those who like romance but don’t have the patience for the courting aspect of a relationship.
******
The Aviculturist
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on Smashwords
The Aviculturist by Ann Smythe, set in 1971 and 1995, tells the story of Lily Sanders, an artist who returns to her hometown called Lostmor after the death of her mother and remaining family. She is called by her mother’s solicitor for what she thought was a menial transaction but turned out to be more. While there, she struggles with the reemergence of memories from her traumatic childhood, whilst she and other individuals from the town become entangled as they face each of their pasts and witness the unraveling of the secrets they were searching for.
First off, I admire the ability of the author to pursue the human side of her characters by showcasing both their strengths and weaknesses. Almost all the characters were shown making mistakes while being self-aware enough that I did not feel a particular aversion towards them. I also thought that the writing was well done in a way that the dialogue seemed natural. Unlike most books that yearn to be dramatic and suspenseful, The Aviculturist didn’t cause me to cringe away from the characters’ conversations.
Although I do value these within a novel, there is still a lot that I was not truly on board with. Despite the human aspects of the characters, I didn’t completely like how they were executed. Sometimes, it felt like the rest of the person’s personality was an afterthought because it was essential to the unraveling of the plot. One of the examples of this is the father’s flirtatious- almost giggly- drunken demeanor when he was shown as a cold and hard man at the beginning. Another is Luke, who also seemed to shift so quickly personality-wise from an almost selfless and pragmatic older brother figure to an unhinged teen, despite being a grown adult.
Upon first glance, the book seemed like a suspense, thriller, and murder mystery novel, so I was pleased with how subtle the romantic subplots were. But then the mood started to shift to the romantic, albeit a little lackluster in terms of development. The shift took me by surprise, and then again when it went back to the nightmarish flashbacks of Lily, along with the tragic backstory of Marcus. I would have absorbed it better, had it been executed a little differently. The stories of the various characters were introduced one after the other with a large interval of chapters in between. These sudden changes in narrative felt intrusive and forced upon the reader. There was a lack of smooth transition in between that should have made me wish to find out more about the character that will soon be featured. Instead, every time a new character came to tell their story, I couldn’t help but be frustrated because I had no inclination to read about them because I wasn’t even the least bit curious about their backstory. In fact, Lily was the only character that I saw truly grew over time (prejudice against the other character aside), but even then, I didn’t feel as connected as I hoped to be with her. Maybe it’s the problem of having too many proxy-like characters in a single novel.
The initial curiosity I had about the suspense aspect of the novel was lost by the continuous lukewarm series of revelations, in exchange for a more romantic approach that did not exactly justify the means. I tried to give it the benefit of the doubt in the middle, thinking it would focus on the aspects of “moving on”, which will result in their escape from their horrific pasts, but I did not see much of it in the conclusion of the novel. A lot of their troubles felt like they were brushed under the rug, which could have been prevented with a more emotional and mental discourse expressed both externally and internally to show character development and not just the panning of the scenes from premise to ending.
Despite all these, I would give this book a 3 out of 4 stars. Ann Smythe did amazingly with her use of imagery. Had she chosen to emphasize or take on one of the genres she ambitiously made use of over the other, she could have maximized her skill to give life to a scene and more. And as I said before, her dialogue was witty and lighthearted enough that it seemed natural and realistic. Obviously, she has a lot of potential just from her debut novel, and I hope to see more of her talent as she develops her style of storytelling.
I would recommend The Aviculturist to those who are interested in the murder mystery genre but are not looking for anything too graphic, as well as those who like romance but don’t have the patience for the courting aspect of a relationship.
******
The Aviculturist
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on Smashwords