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November 2015


CROW COUNTRY (KATE CONSTABLE)

I tried, I really did.  It has a CBC Council Shortlist medal on it and everything.  But I just couldn't make it to the finish line.

It was a good concept, mother and girl move out to the country, girl discovers old Aboriginal site of significance and is mystically and magically drawn into the stories that the land has to tell - as told by the crows.  She is also drawn back in time to witness a crime against the people of the land many, many years ago - and she must decipher what it is the crows want, so the same mistakes aren't made again (or something along those lines - like I said, I didn't make it to the end!).

I am not sure why this story didn't hold my attention.  I really wanted it to.  Perhaps the plot didn't move fast enough?  The main character, Sadie, wasn't really all that interesting?  The crows weren't quite a strong enough feature of the narrative?  None of these reasons seem to really hit the nail on the head for me.  I just know that when I thought about picking it up to finish it, I simultaneously thought... "meh".  And that pretty much sums it up.

I really enjoyed Kate Constable's Cicada Summer (see my previous review), so I was a bit disappointed with Crow Country.  Maybe it just wasn't the right book for me right now, but if you want to try it out for yourselves - go ahead!  I made it about two thirds of the way through!!








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