Reviews with content warning for Infidelity - You Should Have Left

Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

You Should Have Left by Daniel Kehlmann

15 reviews

stephanieluxton's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

This book is about a screenwriter, his actress wife, and their young daughter to rent a secluded air bnb in the mountains for a long term getaway so our main character can work on his screenplay. No, it's not like The Shining. Anyways, some strange things start happening. The family thinks maybe they should leave? But they don't. I'm not going to spoil it.

The general storyline and what we find out is actually happening is fun - lots of potential there. Unfortunately I didn't like the way it was written. I just found out this story is translated from german so it may be possible that some of the story's life was lost in translation? There's very little punctuation in this book. No quotations so you need to really pay attention to decipher the dialogue. The book is written in the form of a journal so sometimes stops mid sentence then picks up again on something different. It read a little dry.

The book ends basically just as things are starting to get super interesting. Fortunately it wasn't a long book so i don't regret reading it. I do feel like it didn't live up to it's raw potential.

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rivercat0338's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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torihbu's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

a short sci-fi thriller about looping through time. a metaphor for rumination and being stuck in the past. very atmospheric and descriptive. you're right there wit the main character as they lose their grip on reality. the slow descent into madness fills you with sinking dread. read this in one sitting!

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emstring's review

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mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

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clovetra's review

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challenging tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

what the hell 🔥
no but seriously. what the hell just happened
this is way too short of a book to understand wtf i just read
like im still wrapping my head around it, and honestly, i think i might have to read a couple of other reviews to try and understand what happened
like i get the narrator is in the dark. but therefore we are in the dark.
sure i felt the perpetual dread, but because the narrator is so god-awful at explaining what is happening, i had no idea.
like if you asked me what the ending was. i would have no response. because i don't know
sure that confusion may be some people's cup of tea. but not mine. i like to know what ive read.
anyways i liked the beginning. i did like how sentences sometimes finished in the middle and an entire new paragraph ended. the middle was pleasant. the ending was incredibly rushed. granted that's what you get for 114 pages but still.
anyways um i actually cant say more because what can you say about a book so short!
i will say though i do want to try reading some of kehlmann's other works in the future. i generally did enjoy his writing! i just fear this was too short to be fleshed out in an appealing way to me.

edit (5/2/2024): i was too nice to this book so ive dropped it a star as i realised i didnt actually enjoy this at all

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smolfem's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

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katiemack's review

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dark emotional mysterious relaxing tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This is a short and (not-so) sweet listen for Halloween. The narrator's voice lulled me into complacency, making the eerie moments all the more terrifying. I am glad this leans more House of Leaves than Amityville Horror, though.

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