A magical house. A momentous summer.
The Olive Tree follows the perspective of young Alex, as he is dragged through multiple dysfunctional family twists, and his mother Helena, who returns to the now crumbling house, 'Pandora', after twenty-four years. As lie after lie becomes revealed, Alex is torn as he grows older.
What I liked
One of the first things that I noticed about this book was that it is heavily reliant on dialogue - which I actually don't hate. It makes it feel like you're there, and I don't normally read books that are written this way.
At 570 pages long, you might be put off reading this book, but I found it a really easy, light read. It's a slow burner, with lots of detail, and it transports you to sunny Cyprus.
Another thing I like is that each character is introduced one at a time, with time spent into describing their features and personalities and this is something I wish that more storytellers would do. It makes the whole reading experience a lot easier to take in.
I absolutely loved Alex, and I found him very likeable and relatable and he was consistent with his quirks.
What I didn't like
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but a member of the book club I am in mentioned that the ending was a little drawn out. I do agree with this point in some respects, but when it is a story such as this which is based on dramatic family events, I think it is really nice the way that all the loose ends are neatly tied up. It makes for a satisfactory ending which is just what you need sometimes.
Rating
Overall, I think this is a great bedtime book to delve into for a couple of chapters before sleeping. It's relaxing, interesting, and has the right amount of suspense. I give this book a rating of 6.5/10.
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