by Leona Francombe

A Historical Fiction, 2024 by Merle Books, 388 Pages 

What I Didn’t Like:

• The characters feel flat. The men in the stories of the past are all very similar to our hero, making it difficult to tell them all apart. The result is characters who all feel flat like the blank characters in a legend, no one feels real. 
• Sections of the book are a bit dry. A lot of time passes while our main character is in America and while that is valuable to showing how he changed, it’s also tiresome. 
• The vibes are strange. Some sections feel like a historical novel set way back in the day, yet other sections talk about laptops and modern things. That makes this one hard to nail down and relate to. 

What I Did Like:

• The introduction of the heron legend comes early, which is nice! You don’t have to wait and you are invested early. 
• Short chapters make pacing yourself through the story easy. 
• The story takes its time revealing the secrets in the family’s past, it gives the impression of swimming slowly in an ocean just enjoying the scenery and the day. 

Who Should Read This One:

• Fans of stories that unravel slowly and take their time enjoying the language of a story. 

My Rating: 2 Stars

• The disconnect of the characters and the time jumps didn’t work for me. I felt too far away from the story.