Reviews

Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller

alistar's review

1.0

Pretty dull, especially during the first half of the book. You won't know what the plot is about until the last 40 pages, which will leave you absolutely disappointed after all the life retellings you will have to go through. Besides, both the main character and the couple were quite annoying, I didn't get to empathize with them and their stories that much. The setting and the descriptions of the house and its surroundings were quite beautiful to imagine.

1.4/5⭐

shantelnielsen's review

Too slow will try again later 

lorrared's review

4.0

The narrator of this novel is Francis Jellico. She is telling the story from her death bed. It begins with her arrival at Lyntons, an English Country Estate in the summer of 1969. At the time, she is 39 years old and has spent a large amount of her adult life caring for her now deceased mother and because of this is socially awkward and without friends. She is there to assess the architecture of the estate for the buyer of the property and here she meets a couple, one of whom is also working for the buyer.

It’s a dark, atmospheric story which is beautifully written, although none of the characters were very likeable. The house gave me gothic, haunted house feels which I loved. I wish I’d had the time to read in one go, as I think I would have been more immersed. It also seemed to suit the heatwave we are having at the moment. All in all, I really enjoyed this one and look forward to reading more from this author.

moshalala's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.25

e_pp's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

yellowpurple500's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I really enjoyed this. I could hardly put it down and the suspense build up was done incredibly well. There was a few questions left unanswered but other than that I loved this! 

lottie1803's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

fionarita's review against another edition

challenging mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

3.5

ellythorsen's review

3.0

Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller has some problems. The first third of the book suffers from being wayyyy too descriptive of the setting, which prevents any sort of momentum from being developed. The middle third of the book suffers from lack of events. The woman and the couple she spies on eat and drink and smoke together. A lot. In fact, that's pretty much all they do. The entire book suffers from just not being that interesting. The author does a good job of having gradual reveals and shocking little twists, but by the time those happen in the last third of the book I am just not invested in the characters or the storyline. Bitter Orange isn't unreadable, but I am pretty disappointed in what I thought would be a good read.
Read more reviews at https://bookreviewsbyelly.blogspot.com/

leonajudge's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5