Book Review: "The Anthill" by Julianne Pachico
“The Anthill” by Julianne Pachico
Synopsis: In the end, it's much easier to not look at the screaming feeling. To not examine it. Better to just keep on rushing on...
Lina has come home to the country of her childhood. Sent away from Colombia to England after her mother's death twenty years before, she's searching for the one person who can tell her about their shared past. She's never forgotten Matty - her childhood friend and protector who now runs The Anthill, a day care refuge for the street kids of Medellín. Lina begins volunteering there, but her reunion with Matty is not what she hoped for. She no longer recognizes Medellin, now rebranded as a tourist destination, nor the person Matty has become: a guarded man uninterested in reliving the past she thought they both cherished.
As Lina begins to confront her memories and the country's traumatic history, strange happenings start taking place at The Anthill: something is violently scratching at the inside of the closet door, the kids are drawing unsettling pictures, and there are mysterious sightings of a small, dirty boy with pointy teeth. Is this a vision of the boy Lina once knew, or something more sinister? Did she bring these disturbances with her? And what will her search for atonement cost Matty?
Rating (out of 5): 4
Review: “The Anthill” has made some recent lists of best thrillers, and so I was excited to give this a try, as the synopsis also seemed very compelling. I was hooked from the beginning, and am a bit bemused that the reviews of this book seem to be less raving than I would expect.
Lina’s arrival to Medellìn opens the first chapter, and her reunion is not at all what she expected. Everything is imbued with a sense of dread and disease from the beginning, and the chapter ends with a bang that had me feeling uneasy and hooked.
All is not well with anyone in this book, and the plot is haunted with the history of Colombia, Escobar’s escapades, and the collective trauma of all involved. We are never quite sure whom to trust, and no one is lovable or endearing. There is the sense that we might be dealing with some unreliable narration.
There is a hint of magic realism and the fantastical about the book, but it remains mostly grounded in reality. It’s not at all a straightforward thriller or mystery, so if you go in with that as an expectation you will likely be disappointed.
TL;DR: A creepy, unsettling, but exciting book that I raced through.
If you liked this, try:
“Catherine House” by Elisabeth Thomas (Bookshop | Kindle) my review here
“The Secret History” by Donna Tartt (Bookshop | Kindle)
“Never Let Me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro (Bookshop | Kindle)
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