This was slow, & atmospheric. The descriptions, of the landscape especially, were frequently wonderful & immersive. It has a really strong sense of place, I think the island, with it's contours & creases, will stay with me for a long time.

The increasing number of character POVs as we were approaching the end of the book made me believe Nell would not survive the climax, but as soon as Nick walked into the chapel I knew exactly what was about to happen. I hoped there was more to it but ultimately was let down. The complex, flawed, normal characters fouled themselves with a (to me) unimaginative, straight-from-the-box hero's journey played out in in five(ish) chapters. Nell became the template heroic main character & all other accumulated pov characters fell away. The ending treated them as insignificant side characters who were actually only minor deviations in Nell's big story¹, ignoring all the time we as readers spent with them, being put [by]² their heads. Nell cuts all ties from a distance & we never interact with them again. Which really seems like a missed opportunity to round out the story. Cleary, the Iníons & Nick all get treated, by Nell's ending, as detours (of varying sizes) within her story, rather than whole characters in their own right.

¹ Big in last few pages only ² It's third person limited so it feels weird to say 'in' their heads . . Given the folk horror vibes, I was fully prepared to have unanswered questions about any supernatural aspects, but currently, it feels like they weren't even explored enough for me to have any questions about.

• The noise &/or accompanying weather killed a number of the birds. Something Nell anticipated happening, took steps to find shelter from, & found wholly unremarkable — the bird deaths never happen again. The whole concept of the sound is never expanded upon beyond our current knowledge & later finding out audibility can be acquired.
• The person/presence following Nell in the woods never comes up again beyond Nell dwelling on not liking the feeling.
• The mass synchronized menstruation never comes up again beyond Nell seeing some faded stains on bedsheets.
• The hagstones never come up again at all.
• All other potential supernaturality is entirely absent after each first inkling.

I don't know whether there was a huge amount of plot cut without sufficient rewrites, or if all the unpursued plot strands were genuinely forgotten in the course of writing the end of Nell. In either case, why did no one spot & fix it? I really enjoyed the begining & the middle, which could have been building up something grand & complexly woven, but the ending was so simple & route one, leaving everything else behind. I'm not sure how to take it.

Also I'm really not keen on the casual stalking being followed by an immediate enthusiastic sexual relationship. It's not benign just because the typical gender roles are reversed. The 'It's a woman/girl being the one to [stalk, assault or harrass] a man/boy so it's actually totally fine! #GirlPower #ChoiceFeminism #GaslightGropingGirlboss ahahaha lol 🤪' narrative is one I find to be unpleasantly common. The glaring lack of consent at the initiation of each first sexual encounter with Nell makes my feel a bit icky too.

I loved the Note On Art And Artists. How Gleeson demonstrates their obvious love of art & artists, how they emphasize the collaborative nature of art & urge sharing & supporting the work of the people who inspired & collaborated with their writing. It was a lovely cup of tea note to close with.

So yeah ... ultimately, mixed feelings.