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limeywesty's review against another edition
2.0
This book was compelling, unsettling and like the Australian Get Reading sticker suggests, I could not put it down. Having said that, I'm still not sure if I'm entirely convinced by the premise. Or maybe it was my narrator that wasn't utterly convincing. I can't say I liked this but the high level of intrigue surrounding it got to me. That, and Jennifer Byrne.
samiac's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
elizaeliza's review against another edition
2.0
Other people who dislike this book criticise it for being confusing and having unlikable characters but for me that wasn't the thing, it was just dumb. It left me with two buckets of 'what a strange world view' and three buckets of 'I don't care'.
vkjansezian's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
kyliecardell's review against another edition
I just didn't really get into this book, and I couldn't be convinced by its premise. There was a real potential for it to be a quite creepy and gothic story, but it doesn't deliver. The characters are (surprisingly, given the unusual context of their relationship) boring and unengaging. We never really learn enough about either of the central protagonists (or maybe we learn too much?) to feel interested in their self-interested self-delusions and the central plot twist is just not convincing. I really thoroughly enjoyed Hooper's nonfiction book The Tall Man and this is my first foray into her fiction. I hear Child's Book of True Crime is very good. I don't know that I'll be rushing off to find out.
lefa's review against another edition
4.0
Gosh I enjoyed this book. Unsettling, unable to be put down. I read it in one sitting. It blew my mind to find that Hooper's fiction is as impressive as her non-fiction.
andrew61's review
3.0
I am trying, while the libraries are shut to read from a stack of books I have piled up and forgotten. I'm not sure when I picked this up and on reading the blurb I wasn't sure why it had grabbed me which seemed reinforced as I started the first chapter and it seemed dominated by Liese, an estate agent, sexual encounters with a man she is showing around Melbourne flats and houses in the property she is supposed to be showing. Somehow the assumption is that Alexander pays her and Liese accepts this to pay of debts she had accrued back home in England. As Liese plans to fly back to England Alexander invites her, for a large sum of money to stay a weekend at his Bush farm holding which includes a large family home occupied only by alexander although still with his families traces throughout.
This short book then rapidly changes from what seems a light sexual romp into something more sinister but what took it beyond routine psychological thrillers was that by the end as a reader I didn't know who was the villain, if indeed there was a villain. Liese is either a very unreliable narrator and Alexander a very creepy maniac who is going to keep her locked away, or Liese is a very damaged woman with a history that has come back to hurt her.
A quick read which left plenty of questions at the end but not in a unsatisfactory manner.
This short book then rapidly changes from what seems a light sexual romp into something more sinister but what took it beyond routine psychological thrillers was that by the end as a reader I didn't know who was the villain, if indeed there was a villain. Liese is either a very unreliable narrator and Alexander a very creepy maniac who is going to keep her locked away, or Liese is a very damaged woman with a history that has come back to hurt her.
A quick read which left plenty of questions at the end but not in a unsatisfactory manner.
stanro's review against another edition
2.0
I know Coe Hooper as an excellent documentary writer whose central subject is well developed as a character. I wondered how she’d turn her hand at a novel.
The story is of the strange way in which a relationship between a wealthy western Victorian farmer and a younger English real estate agent in Melbourne begins and travels. Are the characters convincingly created by Hooper? Though she has some excellent phrasing, I don’t think so. The book just felt awkward, which was both appropriate to the story and not good to read - at least not for me.
It was not for me and that is about 7 hours over four days I won’t get back. ⭐️⭐️
The story is of the strange way in which a relationship between a wealthy western Victorian farmer and a younger English real estate agent in Melbourne begins and travels. Are the characters convincingly created by Hooper? Though she has some excellent phrasing, I don’t think so. The book just felt awkward, which was both appropriate to the story and not good to read - at least not for me.
It was not for me and that is about 7 hours over four days I won’t get back. ⭐️⭐️
lozelson_'s review against another edition
1.0
Such a shame, I love her non fiction work so much better