The Library at the Edge of the World (Finfarran Peninsula, #1) (Finfarran)

by Felicity Hayes-McCoy

[MurderByDeath]

My rating of this book might not quite be fair; it probably deserves a higher rating, but this is one of those books that left me floundering a bit.  I got the story I was expecting based on the back cover, but not the atmosphere.   Hanna Casey is not a likeable MC; she's bitter and not really very strong.  She made it hard for me to want good things to happen for her, although I never actively disliked her.  She seemed to recognise how hateful she was being, but never really did much to correct it.  And she's a terrible librarian.  Her mother is so. much. worse.  At no point did I find her sympathetic, although I suspect I was meant to.  Truly, her mother was awful.   But boy did I fall in love with the Finfarrin community the author created.  This story is timely, I think, as at its heart it's a story about a community taking itself back and actually becoming a community again.  Hanna's the catalyst, but really the story didn't come alive for me until it stopped being so much about her and more about Finfarrin.   It's a slow paced, well-written story with a happy, hopeful ending, just without the happy, upbeat tone.  Nobody is plucky in this book.  That's ok, it's probably better for it; it's just different from what I was expecting and that's likely reflected in my rating.