Fervor by Toby Lloyd
Actual Rating: 2.8
*Thank you to Netgalley, the publishers, and the author for a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.*
I went into this book knowing very little about it other than that it had a very pretty cover, and it was about a Jewish family with a daughter suspected of being a witch, and a son who no longer has faith in religion. Add a grandfather who survived the Holocaust and a mother who just wants to put all those stories in a sensationalist novel, and you get one very complicated family.
To start with, this isn’t really the horror/mystery it says it is. Elsie is not a huge part of the story and the book was written often from an “outsider’s” perspective — that of Kate, who is a family friend. This is where I do see the first of the The Secret History comparisons, with the second one being the general mysticism of the writing style.
While I did like the writing, however, I wish there was less distance between us and the characters as I found it difficult to become really emotionally invested. I wonder what the story might’ve been if we’d gotten a more inside look at each of the family members, rather than being ping-ponged between the parents’ perspective and Kate. It was like watching zoo animals through a sheet of glass — which has its own merits, but I definitely found Elsie to be the most intriguing character, followed by Hannah. Plot-wise, it actually doesn’t seem like there’s a very strong through line, as opposed to just following these characters, so I noticed my interest waxing and waning with their screentime.
There were some interesting conversations about the Jewish faith but once again, it doesn’t seem very cohesive throughout, as opposed to a few anecdotes or stories here and there, sometimes very on-the-nose and sometimes very opaque.
Overall, I think the best part of this book for me was the writing style — I really did enjoy the lyricism and poeticism of it, but didn’t really connect to the actual content.
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