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559 reviews by:
shahrazedez
3.25
I loved the siblings in this book, and I wish we spent less time on June and Mick as important as their story was. I also thought the book was going to take more of a mystery angle, with the arsonist having motives tied to the family drama, but it ended up being much less sinister and unfolded in a way that usually happens in TJR’s books.
I feel like Nina’s chapters being very subdued made sense with her doormat personality and when she finally let herself be, her anger really set flame to the emotions I had reading this story. I just wish she got angrier and let go sooner because I wanted to read more of that. I liked Kit and Jay also, they were very charismatic and sharp witted. But I realized I didn’t feel that big of a connection to this tale when the initial fear I felt when we find out Hud is seeing Ashley at the very beginning of the book, basically fizzled out by the time the confrontation happened. At first I thought the little chapters detailing what some guests were up to really added flavour to the story as it delved into part 2, but as it kept going, and we kept getting those chapters, always imbued with some variation of lust, heartbreak or dalliance, it got boring. I would have liked to see some variation in the chapters on the guests, maybe some about that linked with the other themes of the story, a chapter about celebrity twins in a feud or something.
There were some very quotable parts of the book, but not so much that the book came off as preachy (which is what I found Evelyn Hugo to be).
This was a good read to end the summer with, I just didn’t love it as much as I thought I would.
I loved the siblings in this book, and I wish we spent less time on June and Mick as important as their story was. I also thought the book was going to take more of a mystery angle, with the arsonist having motives tied to the family drama, but it ended up being much less sinister and unfolded in a way that usually happens in TJR’s books.
I feel like Nina’s chapters being very subdued made sense with her doormat personality and when she finally let herself be, her anger really set flame to the emotions I had reading this story. I just wish she got angrier and let go sooner because I wanted to read more of that. I liked Kit and Jay also, they were very charismatic and sharp witted. But I realized I didn’t feel that big of a connection to this tale when the initial fear I felt when we find out Hud is seeing Ashley at the very beginning of the book, basically fizzled out by the time the confrontation happened. At first I thought the little chapters detailing what some guests were up to really added flavour to the story as it delved into part 2, but as it kept going, and we kept getting those chapters, always imbued with some variation of lust, heartbreak or dalliance, it got boring. I would have liked to see some variation in the chapters on the guests, maybe some about that linked with the other themes of the story, a chapter about celebrity twins in a feud or something.
There were some very quotable parts of the book, but not so much that the book came off as preachy (which is what I found Evelyn Hugo to be).
This was a good read to end the summer with, I just didn’t love it as much as I thought I would.
I'm cold hearted because I kind of got bored even though I loved the communication they had going on. I just think I want to see more of their individual lives outside of their relationship.
2.75 stars
I hated Maxim, I’m sorry to say, and that just made me petty and hateful because I think that if I didn’t mind him I would have enjoyed this book so much more. I would have been like the mc who was on edge and anxious at every turn once the big reveal was made, concerned about Maxim and their future together. I just found him to be unromantic, dull, and his excuse for why he was so broody and moody just didn’t do it for me considering the fact that if he wanted to divorce Rebecca it would be so much more easier for him to do so as a man, the consequences he would face would be so meager compared to the way Rebecca’s name would be tarnished, and I feel it would. Because no matter how well a woman is liked she is usually the first to be attacked and smeared. Yes Rebecca was cruel and unfaithful but his motive for murder was that she was encroaching on Manderley, so him charging to the cottage with a gun intent on killing her for ruining the aesthetics made me dislike him even more than if he had just killed her out of jealousy. I didn’t understand what there was to feel sorry for. I just felt sorry that the mc had deluded herself that she loved him so much that she would ride or die for him. Honestly the lengths her and Frank went for him, Maxim was their ultimate first love. And I also feel like he was an unreliable narrator when he talked about Rebecca. Apparently the author sort of mirrored some parts of the book with her own life, so I believe Rebecca was just tired of social norms and the duties women had in playing domestic, maybe she had different views on love, maybe was queer and yes probably was selfish and that just shocked Maxim into oblivion.
I didn’t care for Ms Danvers either, I hate to say it but she was a sapphic girlie I could not defend, in fact I wanted her dead, she was like the personification of depression for me, as that scene where she was coaxing the mc into jumping off the terrace was truly haunting.
I will say the beginning half of the book where we see the mc being so anxious and scared of everything was so realistic and relatable, the tiny fears of displeasing people are the biggest horrors for a person eager to be liked. Then the second half dragged, I was waiting for the reveal of him killing his wife which I suspected from the jump, but then the plot tried to save him and gave him a happy ish ending,. And from the 70% mark onwards I was snoozing. I did hold the tiniest bit of hope when Rebecca’s cousin came into play with his ‘evidence’ but I didn’t expect much. The best part was the ending which I found came out of nowhere but is making me think that maybe they never made it out of the house? Maybe they all died in the fire the night before. And also the fact that even though the mc is reunited with Maxim, they don’t seem like they’ll ever be truly happy. Especially when she thinks and we’ll have kids… surely we’ll have kids. It’s that sense of doubt you have in the back of your mind when you know you happy ending is actually still going to be forever plagued by the murder your husband committed and the eternal dread of wondering when justice will finally catch up to you. By the end of the book their marriage seemed frail and pathetic, they didn’t come out stronger to me. Maxim remained focused on his one true love, Manderly and the mc remained in the shadows fretting. And Rebecca kind of did win.
I hated Maxim, I’m sorry to say, and that just made me petty and hateful because I think that if I didn’t mind him I would have enjoyed this book so much more. I would have been like the mc who was on edge and anxious at every turn once the big reveal was made, concerned about Maxim and their future together. I just found him to be unromantic, dull, and his excuse for why he was so broody and moody just didn’t do it for me considering the fact that if he wanted to divorce Rebecca it would be so much more easier for him to do so as a man, the consequences he would face would be so meager compared to the way Rebecca’s name would be tarnished, and I feel it would. Because no matter how well a woman is liked she is usually the first to be attacked and smeared. Yes Rebecca was cruel and unfaithful but his motive for murder was that she was encroaching on Manderley, so him charging to the cottage with a gun intent on killing her for ruining the aesthetics made me dislike him even more than if he had just killed her out of jealousy. I didn’t understand what there was to feel sorry for. I just felt sorry that the mc had deluded herself that she loved him so much that she would ride or die for him. Honestly the lengths her and Frank went for him, Maxim was their ultimate first love. And I also feel like he was an unreliable narrator when he talked about Rebecca. Apparently the author sort of mirrored some parts of the book with her own life, so I believe Rebecca was just tired of social norms and the duties women had in playing domestic, maybe she had different views on love, maybe was queer and yes probably was selfish and that just shocked Maxim into oblivion.
I didn’t care for Ms Danvers either, I hate to say it but she was a sapphic girlie I could not defend, in fact I wanted her dead, she was like the personification of depression for me, as that scene where she was coaxing the mc into jumping off the terrace was truly haunting.
I will say the beginning half of the book where we see the mc being so anxious and scared of everything was so realistic and relatable, the tiny fears of displeasing people are the biggest horrors for a person eager to be liked. Then the second half dragged, I was waiting for the reveal of him killing his wife which I suspected from the jump, but then the plot tried to save him and gave him a happy ish ending,. And from the 70% mark onwards I was snoozing. I did hold the tiniest bit of hope when Rebecca’s cousin came into play with his ‘evidence’ but I didn’t expect much. The best part was the ending which I found came out of nowhere but is making me think that maybe they never made it out of the house? Maybe they all died in the fire the night before. And also the fact that even though the mc is reunited with Maxim, they don’t seem like they’ll ever be truly happy. Especially when she thinks and we’ll have kids… surely we’ll have kids. It’s that sense of doubt you have in the back of your mind when you know you happy ending is actually still going to be forever plagued by the murder your husband committed and the eternal dread of wondering when justice will finally catch up to you. By the end of the book their marriage seemed frail and pathetic, they didn’t come out stronger to me. Maxim remained focused on his one true love, Manderly and the mc remained in the shadows fretting. And Rebecca kind of did win.
3.25
I think I prefer the movie even though this was a joy to read. I think I would have preferred more descriptive language to describe the settings, in particular the setting where the battle took place. And the movie did not neglect its settings (obviously). This was a lovely fairytale, Edmund and Susan used to be my favourite from the movie but with the book it’s now Lucy and Edmund. Of course all the siblings are great characters.
I think I prefer the movie even though this was a joy to read. I think I would have preferred more descriptive language to describe the settings, in particular the setting where the battle took place. And the movie did not neglect its settings (obviously). This was a lovely fairytale, Edmund and Susan used to be my favourite from the movie but with the book it’s now Lucy and Edmund. Of course all the siblings are great characters.
3.5
Very eerie and atmospheric, and a very terrifying creative concept.
I grew up on the movie which I think I prefer to the book. The latter half of the book wasn’t executed the way I wanted to be. In particular, I found that returning back to her true home, her parents were still as they were before. Maybe they were a bit sweeter but only when Coraline initiated a hug or something. Obviously they probably had no recollection of being stuck in the snow globe but I would have liked to see some communication between Coraline and her parents, maybe letting them know that she’d like to spend more time with them and then them making that time for her.
Although I think that not doing so makes it more realistic, you can have the most earth shattering experiences a kid but everything around you is still the same, it’s still summer and you still have to go back to school tomorrow.
Very eerie and atmospheric, and a very terrifying creative concept.
I grew up on the movie which I think I prefer to the book. The latter half of the book wasn’t executed the way I wanted to be. In particular, I found that returning back to her true home, her parents were still as they were before. Maybe they were a bit sweeter but only when Coraline initiated a hug or something. Obviously they probably had no recollection of being stuck in the snow globe but I would have liked to see some communication between Coraline and her parents, maybe letting them know that she’d like to spend more time with them and then them making that time for her.
Although I think that not doing so makes it more realistic, you can have the most earth shattering experiences a kid but everything around you is still the same, it’s still summer and you still have to go back to school tomorrow.
3.5
This book is a tragedy actually.
The ending was a nightmare, everyone forgetting everything because they grew up (or didn’t in Peter Pan’s case) forgetting how to fly, doubting whether they’d ever been to Neverland.
What happened to growing up with the whimsy still inside of you?
I did kind of appreciate how Peter came to the Darling descendants to take them to Neverland at the end but it was still so terribly sad.
I was such a big fan of the movie growing up but I always disliked everything ending and still do.
The rest of the book was literally just Hook fighting his demons aka pondering over good form and bad form.
This book is a tragedy actually.
The ending was a nightmare, everyone forgetting everything because they grew up (or didn’t in Peter Pan’s case) forgetting how to fly, doubting whether they’d ever been to Neverland.
What happened to growing up with the whimsy still inside of you?
I did kind of appreciate how Peter came to the Darling descendants to take them to Neverland at the end but it was still so terribly sad.
I was such a big fan of the movie growing up but I always disliked everything ending and still do.
The rest of the book was literally just Hook fighting his demons aka pondering over good form and bad form.
This story was the blueprint for presenting vampires as charming aristocratic leeches. This was a fun read, and whilst I kind of enjoyed the removed way the story was told, I wish this had been balanced out with a pov of Lord Ruthven himself. Blood sucking vampire he may be, I couldn't shake the feeling that Aubrey was an unreliable narrator and if we could just get Lord Ruthven's pov perhaps it would make his character and the story more complex. I am still thankful for this story and the modern iterations of vampires it spurned including Carmilla, Dracula, Interview with the Vampire and of course the Penny dreadful, Varney the vampire.
3.5
It was fun to analyze the themes in this book like science vs religion, where the mc uses science to actualize their God like ambitions. But much like a human, crumbles under the weight of responsibility over their creation.
Another theme I enjoyed was absorption vs reflection and how it ties in with science and sociology or academic intelligence vs social intelligence. I found it astounding how even though Victor Frankenstein achieved something as great as creating life, he lacked the intelligence to reflect on the ramifications of his actions. And he continued to do so throughout the book. He has pushed the bounds of science and has become glorious but he doesn’t know what to do with his creation. He runs away from it, doesn’t want it to exist anymore, it makes him miserable. Throughout the book he is so self absorbed he doesn’t really think of how his actions can affect others. He aggravated and antagonizes his creation, thinking that the wrath it will wreak will only affect him. As his family and friends are killed and suffer the consequences one by one, he doesn’t ever get better at thinking about others. He never lets his actions be influenced by thoughts like ‘if I do this then maybe he will kill (insert family/friend)’.
Even when he laments to Elizabeth about the secret he is going to tell her the day after the wedding, he talks about how she’ll see how much pain he is in, and wonder how he can ever live. Everything is centered around him.
His own creation ends up becoming like him when he laments to the sailor that his creator didn’t suffer like he suffered. He truly is the child of Frankenstein, but I would say their similarities are due to nurture.
The lack of control over your creation is kind of like how parents feel a lack of control over their children but it mostly reminds me of how scientists today push the boundaries of science and can create astounding things, but they do not get to dictate how their creations will be used. It is those who have power in the political world, who keep their minds focused on how the inventions and scientific discoveries can affect the society at every point, who get to decide how it will be used. So you can have brilliant minds with brilliant hopes of creating glorious things, being used as weapons for glorious destruction, to create glorious wars and wreak glorious despair.
On a side note I found it the portrayal of Safie and her Dad a bit odd, not because of the Dad having villainous intentions but of the implied Islam vs Christianity theme behind the interactions between Safie, her Dad and Felix. When sayin Safie could find success, freedom etc in the Christian world and would be subjected to returning to a harem upon her return to the Islamic world, I found it a bit odd for a 19 year old Mary Shelley to be the omniscient voice behind this. Even if there were cases where women like Safie were in similar situations, the voice behind this being a white woman, leaves me with worries that the portrayal wasn’t done out of actual knowledge of these experiences from interactions with the people who had lived them, or with compassion, but more so stereotypes, and second-hand accounts of ‘the Arabians’ from other people.
Other than that this was quite a melodramatic philosophical read and whilst it seemed to drag a bit at the end, I really enjoyed analyzing it.
Throughout the book, I too kept thinking what a shame it was that I wasn’t there to meet the creature of Frankenstein in his first few years of life and that I too could ‘fix him’.
It was fun to analyze the themes in this book like science vs religion, where the mc uses science to actualize their God like ambitions. But much like a human, crumbles under the weight of responsibility over their creation.
Another theme I enjoyed was absorption vs reflection and how it ties in with science and sociology or academic intelligence vs social intelligence. I found it astounding how even though Victor Frankenstein achieved something as great as creating life, he lacked the intelligence to reflect on the ramifications of his actions. And he continued to do so throughout the book. He has pushed the bounds of science and has become glorious but he doesn’t know what to do with his creation. He runs away from it, doesn’t want it to exist anymore, it makes him miserable. Throughout the book he is so self absorbed he doesn’t really think of how his actions can affect others. He aggravated and antagonizes his creation, thinking that the wrath it will wreak will only affect him. As his family and friends are killed and suffer the consequences one by one, he doesn’t ever get better at thinking about others. He never lets his actions be influenced by thoughts like ‘if I do this then maybe he will kill (insert family/friend)’.
Even when he laments to Elizabeth about the secret he is going to tell her the day after the wedding, he talks about how she’ll see how much pain he is in, and wonder how he can ever live. Everything is centered around him.
His own creation ends up becoming like him when he laments to the sailor that his creator didn’t suffer like he suffered. He truly is the child of Frankenstein, but I would say their similarities are due to nurture.
The lack of control over your creation is kind of like how parents feel a lack of control over their children but it mostly reminds me of how scientists today push the boundaries of science and can create astounding things, but they do not get to dictate how their creations will be used. It is those who have power in the political world, who keep their minds focused on how the inventions and scientific discoveries can affect the society at every point, who get to decide how it will be used. So you can have brilliant minds with brilliant hopes of creating glorious things, being used as weapons for glorious destruction, to create glorious wars and wreak glorious despair.
On a side note I found it the portrayal of Safie and her Dad a bit odd, not because of the Dad having villainous intentions but of the implied Islam vs Christianity theme behind the interactions between Safie, her Dad and Felix. When sayin Safie could find success, freedom etc in the Christian world and would be subjected to returning to a harem upon her return to the Islamic world, I found it a bit odd for a 19 year old Mary Shelley to be the omniscient voice behind this. Even if there were cases where women like Safie were in similar situations, the voice behind this being a white woman, leaves me with worries that the portrayal wasn’t done out of actual knowledge of these experiences from interactions with the people who had lived them, or with compassion, but more so stereotypes, and second-hand accounts of ‘the Arabians’ from other people.
Other than that this was quite a melodramatic philosophical read and whilst it seemed to drag a bit at the end, I really enjoyed analyzing it.
Throughout the book, I too kept thinking what a shame it was that I wasn’t there to meet the creature of Frankenstein in his first few years of life and that I too could ‘fix him’.
2.5
A cute story about a couple, each sacrificing and selling their most prized possession to buy the other a Christmas gift. I liked that we followed Della’s pov and though it was pretty obvious from the beginning what prized possession Jim would have sold, I wish we got to see his pov. Because I couldn’t really get a sense of what he was feeling other that confusion and being at a loss for words. And with the abrupt ending, I didn’t get to feel the love and the care they shared for each other. It would have been nice if they had a conversation on the couch and just laughed at what happened, maybe shared a smile, wore the chain and used the combs even with no watch or no hair. Something, anything to make me feel the warmth of gift giving. It just felt a bit cold is all.
A cute story about a couple, each sacrificing and selling their most prized possession to buy the other a Christmas gift. I liked that we followed Della’s pov and though it was pretty obvious from the beginning what prized possession Jim would have sold, I wish we got to see his pov. Because I couldn’t really get a sense of what he was feeling other that confusion and being at a loss for words. And with the abrupt ending, I didn’t get to feel the love and the care they shared for each other. It would have been nice if they had a conversation on the couch and just laughed at what happened, maybe shared a smile, wore the chain and used the combs even with no watch or no hair. Something, anything to make me feel the warmth of gift giving. It just felt a bit cold is all.
