Reviews with content warning for Terminal illness - Rebecca

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Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

109 reviews

theportalmaster's review against another edition

5.0

reflective 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: Complicated

8 years. 8 years of this book collecting dust on my shelves. Not really. I clean those regularly. But yes, 8 years of me being terrified to start this book. I was afraid it was going to have that tiring classics language, a complicated setting, and just drain me while reading. What a delight to find out I was extremely wrong. And honestly, I wouldn’t have picked it up if it wasn’t for a “spin-the-wheel” pick, so thanks to that!

Rebecca was a captivating novel that, once it picked up, you could just fly through. Although it was far from the romance I was sold on somehow, it told a realistic slightly horror story of how easily some younger women can fall prey to older men’s charm. The narrator, a naive young girl, remained nameless the whole book. It spoke a lot about her stand and importance in the whole thing. I had hopes for her to actually become a self, to open her eyes, get some self esteem, but she remained kind of a companion lady, just like when the book started. Only by the end, instead of the older rich woman, it was Maxim she had to look after. The way she tried to show some confidence in herself is by bossing the staff around, and be bossed around and manipulated by her husband still.

And now that we’re here. I do not like Maxim. Not one bit. I don’t trust him at all. He belittled and manipulated the narrator from start to finish, in subtle and not subtle ways. In front of friends and staff. In private too. There was no love or true compassion towards her. That’s why I cannot trust him regarding Rebecca either, and I can’t take his side on the whole thing or be happy that he remained married to the second wife. The whole relationship started and ended with an incredible power imbalance. He got exactly what he wanted: a timid, naive wife to replace the independent, powerful one he had before whom he couldn’t control.

And let me be clear, I don’t believe Rebecca was an angel, at all. But she also wasn’t exactly the evil monster Maxim wanted to sell to us. He needed her to be evil to make his actions seem justifiable. Everyone’s telling us how incredible Rebecca was, except him. He told a whole different story, and showed us a scheming, manipulative villain. Are we supposed to take his word for it so easily? He’s the murder after all.

Taking his confession into account Rebecca’s sin was sexuality, and Maxim tolerated it for so long because the farce was better than a divorce scandal and when it got too much for him, he wanted out. In my opinion her cousin was sort of right in the fact that Maxim was a little jealous of it all, the lack of control, her freedom. Maybe. Divorce was unacceptable to him, but murder was somehow okay? This is what I can’t swallow. From all the things we were told about Rebecca, the animal abuse, the threatening of the mentally ill, the pushing of Frank’s boundaries, the worst thing she did was talk about an imaginary illegitimate child? That was cause for murder? A murder he feels no regret for and claims would do it again.

And the narrator… omg, the narrator! She’s so invested in “winning” against Rebecca that the only thing she focuses on is whether Maxim loved Rebecca or not. Woman. This man admitted to murdering his wife, and doesn’t care, and that’s all you think about? You are relieved because you think he didn’t love her? Give me a fucking break. How embarrassing. How naive and simple-minded. It made me sad. She had so much potential, but she let me down miserably. I mean, fine. Stay by Maxim’s side if that’s your choice, but at least acknowledge that what he did was horrible. You are his second wife. You should be at least a little wary, especially considering his stance on the whole thing.

The ending is sad. In my opinion, everyone won except the narrator. She could have done so much better. Her end was the most tragic. Even in death and “salvation”, Maxim still thinks of Rebecca’s supposed win, dominance. In my opinion, the thread of his hate and love is thin. The strong feelings he had for her, he’ll never have for the narrator. I don’t think she has real feelings for him either though. There’s no friendship, no romance, no chemistry there. Nothing. But somehow they remain together. Alright. I guess. Good book.

Content Warnings

kathleendayle's review against another edition

4.25

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Someone get this girl a Lexapro prescription! … at least, that’s what I wanted for her for the first two-thirds of this book. I identified with her in the worst of my own anxiety and people-pleasing. She was not a particularly inspiring character.

But things turn around in about chapter 19, where the story starts getting good. You realize that her shrinking-violet-ness not entirely her fault; like so many women, she’s conditioned by her time and the awful people around her. Her anxiety is a natural response to a world that values young women so little.

And then I couldn’t put it down. She starts to gain a bit of agency over her life and the house staff, finally, as the story unfolds and the suspenseful ending is revealed. Keep reading; it redeems itself in the end!

Content Warnings

angievansprang's review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I really enjoyed this! It’s the first classic I’ve partaken in in awhile, and it surely did not read like one. du Marier’s prose is absolutely gorgeous, and the mystery in this novel is thrilling and really kept me turning the pages. I found the main character deeply irritating and fundamentally dislikeble despite her naivety. However with that said, these qualifies also humanize her. I had to remember that this person is supposed to be younger than my age now (so <25 lol), and completely out of her element at Manderley. The pacing was a bit off for me as I found the first half or so pretty slow, but the latter half moved super quickly. Would definitely recommend if you’re looking to read classics that don’t feel like high school reading assignments.

Content Warnings

juliebeevs_reads's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The main plot twist was predictable, but the last 100 pages after the big reveal are actually quite tense. And the last twist at the very end actually did shock me, and you don’t really know if the characters truly get a happy ending.

Content Warnings

garmiet's review against another edition

3.5

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Content Warnings

ashleymae_'s review against another edition

5.0

dark mysterious relaxing sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I typed an extensive review and lost it all. I loved it so much !!

I went in immense detail but now I’m frustrated and lazy so here is the short version:

The characterisation of our protagonist felt accurate and appropriate for her context as a sheltered young woman with low self esteem, who does not develop as a result of passed time but rather hardships and trauma which come later in the novel. The narrative progression was perfect I believe, the Gothic scene of Manderley being reinforced in the first half with the supernatural elements keeping my interest (albeit more psychologically thrilling than supernatural) which allowed for the plot twists of the second half to be more jarring. I love Mrs Danvers, especially as we first think she is the antagonist, and she was the main reason I read the first couple of hundred pages so easily. I love Rebecca the femme fatale who we only know through memories of the past, I also love Beatrice as the kind sister in law. I feel as though the female characters are barred from one another, or that they are the cause of one another’s problems whereas the protagonist finds allies in make characters — which I didn’t like but it could be argued that it is social commentary. I really was rooting for the protagonists while sympathetic to Mrs Danvers, Beatrice and even Rebecca.

Rebecca is painted as evil as Maxim without evidence and we only empathise with him through the lens of the protagonist whose self esteem is entangled with his appraisal. She exults him to godhood when he’s really the monster although he vilifies Rebecca for her disloyalty. IMO Rebecca needed financial independence not a marriage, so that she could be wild and free and do the things a young bachelor could with impunity.

I really like to read it as a social commentary especially through female relationships, jealousy, competition such as Rebecca and the protagonist or even devotion and obsession(Mrs Danvers AND the protagonist are obsessed in different ways: adoration and envy). The relationship between Maxim and the protagonist is predatory, vampiric and just creepy however I like to see how Maxim is characterised through the protagonist’s emotional lens— not by his actions or the content of his words is he evaluated but rather the emotional impression he leaves. I could continue forever but this book is fantastic and definitely amongst my favourites

Content Warnings