Reviews

Red Island House by Andrea Lee

swar28's review

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2.0

This book failed to interest me. Though the beginning of the book was interesting and it got me hooked for the initial 100 pages, but after that, I only felt like skimming through the pages.

The life of Shay and the many people that surround her, have many stories to tell. Each story about their struggle, happiness and adventures. Almost all of them dealing with the hardships living on an Island in Madagasar.
For me most of the stories were interesting however, it felt very stretched. I was unable to connect with this book or with its characters. The book does dive deep into the culture of the people in Madagascar, which was interesting to know.
The book is well written. I did struggle to maneuver through the book with this type of writing, but it was enjoyable.

Overall the book is certainly interesting but does get a little difficult to go through. It wasn’t a memorable read. This opinion may change from person to person. Read this if you are intrigued about life on a remote Island in Madagasar.

Overall the book is certainly interesting but does get a little difficult to go though. This opinion may change from person to person. Read this if you are intrigued about life on a remote Island in Madagasar.

sarschr04's review

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slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

whatjaninareads's review

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emotional informative reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

lauramay_reads's review

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mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

toniak's review

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5.0

The format of this book was a little unexpected. It's more a series of vignettes than a typical novel structure. This didn't take away from my enjoyment of it, just wanted to make note for others on what to expect.

kangaruthie's review

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5.0

This book is not what I was expecting - it’s more like a book of short stories than a novel, which was disorienting for a while. I loved the first chapter and then was disappointed that I didn’t get to learn more. But it reminded me of Olive Kitteridge in that each chapter focused on different characters within the same community, and the main character of the book aways played some type of role in the story.

The writing was incredibly lush and densely descriptive. This book is all about location, location, location. The setting was so vivid that it felt like I was in Madagascar while reading. However, the book is riddled with unnecessarily complicated vocabulary (including many words I had never even heard of before), which might be offputting to some readers.

I thoroughly enjoyed the creative questions the book brought up about race, colonialism, class, family, and belonging. Overall, I really loved this book, but it won’t be for everyone.

andonsmom's review

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challenging dark reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

husnaibrahim_'s review

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3.0

“Red Island House” was alright, though I’m not entirely sure if I enjoyed it as much as I thought I would, or if it just happened to be the right book to pull me out of my reading slump.

Either way, it was a good listen. I always appreciate audiobooks that are easy to follow, even if you lose track of where you left off. The narrators did an excellent job in this regard.

sdb27's review

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3.0

Would have been 4 stars but the ending was an abrupt let down.

jeanne_i_d's review

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5.0

“In Madagascar, everything speaks. Not just the people and animals, but trees and rocks and individual islands and rice fields and lagoons and house; and ancestral spirits…”

It took me well into the third section of this book to realize that this novel was actually a series of stories centered around Madagascar, the Red House and Shay, a Black American woman married to a rich Italian who has built her a vacation home on a fictive Malagasy Island

I had been very excited at the end of first section thinking that this was to be a haunted house story in the tradition of “Rebecca” or “This House is Haunted”. At first, I was disappointed when I realized that this one story had ended but was soon swept away in the Shay’s experience in Madagascar.

I would like to thank the publisher, Scribner, for providing a giveaway copy of this book in exchange for an honest review