basically the polar opposite of the power: the first part of the book was a miserable slog, with a solid payoff at the end.
the narrator is UNLIKABLE. like, INCREDIBLY UNLIKABLE. which was in a lot of ways the point — the point of the witch elm was about memory and power, and how access to one shapes and warps the other; the central murder mystery is completely missed by the main character, who excused so many things as boys being boys and his gay cousin and his female cousin being hysterical.
…….but also: getting there was A SLOG. i put my phone down and went, “this FUCKING guy” at my cat at one point — he hears about his gay cousin nearly being raped and responds with glee over the fact that he’s figured out leon did the murder because leon is vengeful and would have carried a grudge B)
the payoff was worth it, i think! but also like — i would not have continued reading this if it weren’t tana french and i didn’t trust her (and like, she does make it pretty clear early on that his determined inability to see bigotry for bigotry is Bad, and that he’s frankly a shitty person). i guess i recommend it, but like
uuuuuggggghhhhhhh THIS FUCKING GUY.