This month I decided to try something new for the book club book; listening to the monthly pick. Spotify have recently started to include 15 free audiobook hours per month for subscribers, so I thought why not? Weyward was the pick of the month for April, and I think I'm onto something...
Before we get into things, let's start with an observation: what is it with books being written from different perspectives these days? Weyward was another book that flitted between narrators for each chapter, and it feels like a really common tool lately. I'm not completely enamoured with it, and a bunch of the books I've read so far this year have been this way. Can we get back to chapters and linear storytelling please?
Altha, Violet, and Kate make up the three mains of Weyward. Each of their stories was interesting, and when they all came together it was like the unveiling of a beautiful woven tapestry. However, on closer inspection it seemed there were some snags in the tapestry. I think it's because of the aforementioned gripe of flitting narration that each character never felt quite fully fleshed out. Their stories were told poetically and vividly; rich imagery was there throughout, but it felt as though things were somewhat rushed and left out in order to get to the grand reveal.
I loved Weyward because I love all things witchy. The hysteria, the history and the mystery surrounding that period of time in the 1600s is something that has always been of interest to me, so it was nice for me to link that love in with the setting of Weyward. I love the idea that witchcraft could be real, and I laugh at the idea even more when considering that even 500 years ago men were so threatened by women that they accused them of all sorts in the name of 'witchcraft'...ah, ye olde fragile masculinity.
Anyway, back to Weyward. Altha and Violet had the most interesting chapters for me, but that is somewhat driven by the narrator of Kate having the most annoying voice I've heard for a long time. The way she read most sentences sounded like a question, with a weird, rushed inflection thing going on. I didn't enjoy that, and in turn that made me not enjoy Kate's chapters even though her storyline was quite interesting.
Despite that, I actually enjoyed my idea of going for an audiobook. I've never really enjoyed listening to audiobooks, so it's something I've essentially ignored forever, but I think I'm going to do each book club choice as a listen-along. May's book club pick is The Murder After The Night Before, which I ARC reviewed earlier this year, so I'll sit that one out and re-join in as of June.
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