I absolutely loved People of Abandoned Character and started reading the author's second novel with the promise of a five star read. For most of the book, I wasn't disappointed but there were too many 'angsty' irons in the fire and the ending was bonkers, turning a troubled coming of age story into a Hollywood blockbuster. I also guessed very early on who the real threat was - anyone who remembers the TV drama Mother Love with the late Dame Diana Rigg will also be tipped off!

Teenager Prue MacArthur has been sent to stay with her Aunt Ruth on the Shetland island of Noost after a family tragedy. Her mother and grandmother, the two women who brought her up, have been taken away from her in shocking circumstances - her mother attempted to kill herself after her grandmother died in hospital from a heart attack, both seemingly devastated by a blast from the past involving Prue and her baby sister. Although glad to get away from her suffocating life at home, Prue struggles to adjust to her aunt's family and their isolated gothic house. Ruth holes herself away, painting nightmarish art with hidden meaning. Uncle Archie preys on young girls, deals in drugs and the islanders believe he killed his girlfriend twenty years before and got away with the crime. His grandmother Ronnie is a larger than life personality who grows rare and poisonous plants all over the house and tries to cultivate a feminist sense of self worth and independence in Prue: 'They can’t bear to let us be free because they’re frightened of us, so they shackle us, cover us up, legislate our bodies, beat us, exploit us, sell us, rape us, deny who we really are.' Prue also meets James, a university student whose mother runs the local hotel, and Charlie, the brother of Archie's lost girlfriend.

I really liked Prue to start with and, scarily, identified with her history - not knowing who her father is ('I still can’t get my head around the fact no one will even talk to me about him, and I’m meant to pretend it’s normal') and being dominated her matriarchal family unit. Like any teenager, she is unsure of her identity but Prue's insecurities run far deeper, formed by memories which slowly bubble to the surface. The Noost family are equally entertaining to start with, and the house is a gothic nightmare, full of creeping greenery and hidden rooms. Prue has questions about her own family history but the Andersons of Dynost House are equally puzzling. Did Archie kill Evie back in 1973 and why have so many visitors disappeared over the years?

The plot held my interest throughout and I was equally gripped by the identity of Prue's father and the mystery of Evie's death. I also appreciated the insidious change in Prue's character while staying with her aunt and uncle. When the skeletons started falling out of everyone's cupboards, however, I just felt like there was too much happening to Prue, poor girl - the identity of her father, the death of her sister, the dark undercurrents at her aunt's house. I almost wished there was some serious gaslighting going on, at one point: 'They’d all lied so many times it was difficult to know who or what to believe any more.' And then the final chapters, confirming the real monster of the story and Prue's desperate attempt to escape the island, completely overtook the internal trauma of her family's revelations - the very real psychological development of her backstory didn't quite gel with the 'dark and stormy night' horror film ending for me. I'm glad the dog was okay, though!

I love Clare Whitfield's writing, which blends observational and pithy humour with beautiful sentiment. Prue's description of what her life would be like if she went home to her mother, for example, perfectly captures the characters who seemed so real to me: 'Put dreamcatchers on a wall but never dream and keep the volume down so the ornaments stayed on top of the TV'. I could see and feel every part of the house and the island and I needed to know the truth, just like Prue - but in the end, I think there were too many twists and revelations to maintain my initial connection to the characters. This would make a great film, however!

A petty note to end - one tip of the missing star in my rating belongs to this statement: 'at least Nana had liked a bit of Queen, even if she had refused to accept Freddie Mercury was bisexual'. I'm with Nana on this: Freddie was gay! ( )

There is a lot packed into this novel's secrets, guilt, grief, drug use and full of family drama! The characters are fantastic but they are also either odd or crazy at times. Pure hasn't had the easiest life and has dealt with some things no sixteen year old should have but I still enjoyed her character and found I could understand her. As the story builds more secrets are revealed and so does the dark and creepy feel. There were a few spots where I thought the story slowed down a bit but there were some great twists! Overall it was a great read!
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