I will admit with this one that I partially judged a book by its cover. I really liked the cover image, title and blurb, even if I’m not certain that they necessarily reflect the content accurately, but that aside, I delved into the ‘YA’ tale, and, in the main, very much liked what I found there.
The story centres around two just-teen sisters, Lou and Kerry, moving into a new home, and their fascination with the sentinels of the title, the re-assuring trees that seem to protect from the unsettling and creepy field, avoided by all the locals.
From the notes it’s clear this is a very personal venture for the author, and some of the descriptions do read a little like factual diary entries, including amounts of extraneous details that seem to go beyond world-building, and maybe have far more meaning to the author than a relevance to the story, but the narrative is clean, well, written and engaging, and keeps you invested. Some events (I’ll just say “the butterflies”) intrigue and work really well in building the mystery and uncertainty over whether the sentinels themselves are benevolent or sinister, but then the book swerves left quite unexpectedly, into the events around one of the girls being what is euphemistically referred to as ‘hurt’, by a pervert neighbour, and subsequent events and consequences. This is handled very sensitively and well by the author., but might distub some readers.
I’m a bit conflicted as I’m clearly not the target YA audience, so the style, level and tone may be perfect for the intended readers, but for me, tonally I never really settled, as the book seemed to be an innocent childhood memoir one moment, a dark almost-horror the next, then a psychological exploration of trauma, any of which might have worked alone, but were a little hard to reconcile together as they jumped from one to the other. Having said that, themes are brought neatly together at the end of the book, and interpreting the trees, grass and snakes as allusions to parents, childhood and loss of innocence does allow for a quite different reading, adding extra depth and levels which are fascinating.
None of this review is intended negatively though. If I seem overly critical in places, it is more a result of the fact that it is a good book, but for me personally, there were so many sections which were ‘almost’ brilliant (and I really wanted those parts to take me even further), that I am perhaps being harsher though frustration. I would certainly read another book by the author, and I think that alone says enough for you to judge that I think The Sentinels is worth investing your time reading.
From the pitch
Lou thinks that the only thing she has to worry about when she moves to a new house is fitting in with new friends. What she doesn’t count on is the strange field across the road, with mysterious trees that beg to be explored. But danger hides in the tall grass, and the trees turn out to be much more than she initially bargained for.
Along with her sister Kerry and friend Tim, they discover the true nature of the trees. Together they will navigate through a summer filled with bullies, young love, and one horrible event that will shatter their innocence, and leave at least one of them changed forever.
Available at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09MJ6WLHV/
Stay safe,
Kit