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tiffts's review against another edition
4.0
The Resting Place is not what you think. There is no pause, no respite, and is not a long nor meandering sort of read. It’s a hit the ground running thriller with a great twist of an end that’s taking full advantage of its locked room trope. While the protagonist’s facial recognition disability could have been better utilized as a plot device and to give more sympathy to her unreliability, the story’s backstory plot was well done. Camilla Sten once again creates Nordic dread in a desolate landscape very well here.
Many thanks to @NetGalley for providing a copy for review.
Many thanks to @NetGalley for providing a copy for review.
alixplainlater's review against another edition
4.0
I was very invested in the story and found the mystery of it all to be quite compelling. I was on the edge of my seat, waiting to find out the next reveal throughout the book. The ending was a little disappointing to me, but it was a thrilling story overall.
midnight91princess's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
maralyons's review against another edition
4.0
The Resting Place by Camilla Sten is a gothic locked-room mystery set in a remote mansion in Sweden. The story is told in dual timelines, in present-day and the 1960s. The present-day is told in Eleanor’s perspective, a woman around 30 whose grandmother was murdered some months earlier. Though she saw the culprit run past her, she could not identify them because she suffers from face-blindness, which added to the ominous, paranoid feeling of the novel. She has inherited the family’s mansion she never knew about, that hasn’t been occupied by the family for decades. The 1960s story is told in the perspective of Anushka, Eleanor's grandmother’s maid and cousin from Poland.
Eleanor's grandmother Vivianne raised her and was very ascerbic and cold as a caregiver. After Vivianne's grisly death, Eleanor learns she has inherited a mysterious, remote property and visits with her boyfriend, estranged aunt, and an estate lawyer in order to itemize everything on the property for potential sale. They visit in winter and strange inexplicable things start occurring and we start to learn about unspoken family secrets. I found the story fascinating and wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I really enjoyed Angela Dawe’s audiobook narration. The voices she used for each character, especially for the cantankerous Vivianne.
Thank you St. Martin’s Press / Macmillan Audio for providing this ebook / audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Eleanor's grandmother Vivianne raised her and was very ascerbic and cold as a caregiver. After Vivianne's grisly death, Eleanor learns she has inherited a mysterious, remote property and visits with her boyfriend, estranged aunt, and an estate lawyer in order to itemize everything on the property for potential sale. They visit in winter and strange inexplicable things start occurring and we start to learn about unspoken family secrets. I found the story fascinating and wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I really enjoyed Angela Dawe’s audiobook narration. The voices she used for each character, especially for the cantankerous Vivianne.
Thank you St. Martin’s Press / Macmillan Audio for providing this ebook / audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.
whitneyy's review against another edition
4.0
4.5⭐️
Omg.
But im sorry the ending??
It makes me sad more than anything else. This is how they lived after all that? All they went through? It really made me feel sad.
My god but it was so perfectly woven. Like the mystery and everything.
I guarantee if you have a heart and more than 3 braincells you will feel something so sad at the end. Its like a: “This is what I went through, I did terrible things to get here and now I must deal with it”
Anushka and Vivianne though their chapters especially Märit, it made me really sad toward the end, but in a good way. Like I felt so bad for them.
One of the best reads so far. Read it.
Yes elanor was annoying but it was worth it.
The ending though.
I don’t think i’ll be forgetting it anytime soon.
Omg.
But im sorry the ending??
It makes me sad more than anything else. This is how they lived after all that? All they went through? It really made me feel sad.
My god but it was so perfectly woven. Like the mystery and everything.
I guarantee if you have a heart and more than 3 braincells you will feel something so sad at the end. Its like a: “This is what I went through, I did terrible things to get here and now I must deal with it”
Anushka and Vivianne though their chapters especially Märit, it made me really sad toward the end, but in a good way. Like I felt so bad for them.
One of the best reads so far. Read it.
Yes elanor was annoying but it was worth it.
The ending though.
I don’t think i’ll be forgetting it anytime soon.
paperbacksandpines's review against another edition
3.0
[b:The Resting Place|57693360|The Resting Place|Camilla Sten|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1641778253l/57693360._SY75_.jpg|90371579] had such an intriguing premise that I had been eagerly looking forward to reading it this year.
The main character, Eleanor, was the only thoroughly likeable character in the story. The others ranged from disappointing to straight evil. I felt bad for Eleanor because she knew she was unreliable due to her prosopagnosia, and perhaps unreliable for other reasons, too.
From a thriller point of view, I think Sten met the brief. I found myself trying to figure out whether the characters were truly who they were introduced to readers or whether they were someone else. I ended up guessing part of the mystery but it didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book. That being said, this story was pretty bleak and after the big reveal at the end, I still couldn't fathom one of the character's decisions. It just didn't seem plausible.
The writing was well plotted but my feelings about the book were mixed.
The main character, Eleanor, was the only thoroughly likeable character in the story. The others ranged from disappointing to straight evil. I felt bad for Eleanor because she knew she was unreliable due to her prosopagnosia, and perhaps unreliable for other reasons, too.
From a thriller point of view, I think Sten met the brief. I found myself trying to figure out whether the characters were truly who they were introduced to readers or whether they were someone else. I ended up guessing part of the mystery but it didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book. That being said, this story was pretty bleak and after the big reveal at the end, I still couldn't fathom one of the character's decisions. It just didn't seem plausible.
The writing was well plotted but my feelings about the book were mixed.
emily_loves_2_read's review against another edition
4.0
The Resting Place
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Thriller
Format: Audiobook
Date Published: 3/29/22
Author: Camilla Sten
Narrator: Angela Dawe
Publisher: Audible Audio / Minotaur Books
Goodreads Rating: 3.65
Thank you to NetGalley and Audible Audio / Minotaur Books for providing a digital advanced readers copy of the book for me to read for my honest opinion.
Synopsis: prosopagnosia is what the average person calls it face blindness—the inability to recognize a familiar person’s face, even the faces of those closest to you. When Eleanor walked in on the scene of her capriciously cruel grandmother, Vivianne’s, murder, she came face to face with the killer, but could not recognize them. Then a lawyer calls. Vivianne has left her a house—a looming estate tucked away in the Swedish woods. Eleanor. Her steadfast boyfriend, Sebastian. Her reckless aunt, Veronika. The lawyer. All will go to this house of secrets, looking for answers. But as they get closer to bringing the truth to light, they’ll wish they had never come to disturb what rests there.
My Thoughts: This was one of my first audiobooks, I have just recently started to listen to them. The story is narrated by Eleanor primarily, through her perspective, with some Annaka’s story from the late 1960’s sprinkled in. The characters are well developed, carry depth, mystery, and just fit the story perfectly. The author’s writing style is complex, creative, mysterious, twisty at that right moments, and just amazing, while keeping me engaged from the first word to the last word. I adored this audiobook and would recommend to anyone who likes a good mystery/thriller.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Thriller
Format: Audiobook
Date Published: 3/29/22
Author: Camilla Sten
Narrator: Angela Dawe
Publisher: Audible Audio / Minotaur Books
Goodreads Rating: 3.65
Thank you to NetGalley and Audible Audio / Minotaur Books for providing a digital advanced readers copy of the book for me to read for my honest opinion.
Synopsis: prosopagnosia is what the average person calls it face blindness—the inability to recognize a familiar person’s face, even the faces of those closest to you. When Eleanor walked in on the scene of her capriciously cruel grandmother, Vivianne’s, murder, she came face to face with the killer, but could not recognize them. Then a lawyer calls. Vivianne has left her a house—a looming estate tucked away in the Swedish woods. Eleanor. Her steadfast boyfriend, Sebastian. Her reckless aunt, Veronika. The lawyer. All will go to this house of secrets, looking for answers. But as they get closer to bringing the truth to light, they’ll wish they had never come to disturb what rests there.
My Thoughts: This was one of my first audiobooks, I have just recently started to listen to them. The story is narrated by Eleanor primarily, through her perspective, with some Annaka’s story from the late 1960’s sprinkled in. The characters are well developed, carry depth, mystery, and just fit the story perfectly. The author’s writing style is complex, creative, mysterious, twisty at that right moments, and just amazing, while keeping me engaged from the first word to the last word. I adored this audiobook and would recommend to anyone who likes a good mystery/thriller.
megzy818's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
claudiacantread's review against another edition
2.0
The novel was an atmospheric thriller set in an old family mansion after the murder of her grandmother right in front of Eleanor. Eleanor should be able to point out the murderer but she suffers from prosopagnosia, the inability to recognize faces of even those she knows and loves (even herself). When a lawyer calls for inventory of the house, Eleanor, her boyfriend, Sebastian, her aunt, Veronica and the lawyer all go out to the middle of nowhere to go over it. However, mysterious things start happening and a storm has them trapped! Dun dun dun.
Ok so to be totally upfront this was well written, the atmospheric writing was well done and did add tension and creepiness throughout the story. It did feel like anything could happen at any time. That’s not really the problem here.
The problem was the characters. They were assigned about one personality trait each (except for Eleanor who was assigned all of them) and then, if not Eleanor, told to act as suspicious as possible for no apparent reason throughout the entire book. Eleanor is strong, no weak, no brave, no cowardly, no - somehow tiny enough to fit in a dumbwaiter but also not know what a dumbwaiter is. There’s just nonsense that happens throughout the story. Two characters are revealed to be skulking about the house ‘looking for clues’ about two totally different things and neither wanted to get caught but neither just thought about going to this mostly abandoned property when…no one was there? Multiple murder *is* a lesser charge than breaking and entering so I get their thought process. Or…wait do we have that backwards?
No one makes any sense! The relationships are ridiculous. Sebastian and Eleanor have supposedly been together for six years but they could have met a month ago for all I could tell. Veronica is hugely rude to Eleanor and everyone for seemingly no reason.
Eleanor’s prosopagnosia is an interesting concept but that’s about it. Honestly, the murderer could have just run past her real fast and she not get a good look and it would be almost the same concept. I think we are supposed to also assume because she has one mental disorder that she could be a crazy and hallucinate all the time. Its not a very good representation of being neurodivergent.
The flashbacks were the most interesting part which is not something I usually say. But Vivienne and Annika were rather captivating and felt more real than anyone in the present time. I would have liked to see more of the transitional period of character growth but we were basically just told it happened which seems disingenuous to what we knew of the character in the past.
But the worst was the reveal of the plot twist. It was a crazy twist in that I didn’t suspect it! Because I could not care less about that person.
Overall, I would maybe recommend this book if you like atmospheric thrillers. Its got good ratings otherwise and what bothered me definitely won’t bother everyone. The writing was good and I would try this author again even if I didn’t like this one.
Thanks to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for an audio ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Will do a full write up later!
Ok so to be totally upfront this was well written, the atmospheric writing was well done and did add tension and creepiness throughout the story. It did feel like anything could happen at any time. That’s not really the problem here.
The problem was the characters. They were assigned about one personality trait each (except for Eleanor who was assigned all of them) and then, if not Eleanor, told to act as suspicious as possible for no apparent reason throughout the entire book. Eleanor is strong, no weak, no brave, no cowardly, no - somehow tiny enough to fit in a dumbwaiter but also not know what a dumbwaiter is. There’s just nonsense that happens throughout the story. Two characters are revealed to be skulking about the house ‘looking for clues’ about two totally different things and neither wanted to get caught but neither just thought about going to this mostly abandoned property when…no one was there? Multiple murder *is* a lesser charge than breaking and entering so I get their thought process. Or…wait do we have that backwards?
No one makes any sense! The relationships are ridiculous. Sebastian and Eleanor have supposedly been together for six years but they could have met a month ago for all I could tell. Veronica is hugely rude to Eleanor and everyone for seemingly no reason.
Eleanor’s prosopagnosia is an interesting concept but that’s about it. Honestly, the murderer could have just run past her real fast and she not get a good look and it would be almost the same concept. I think we are supposed to also assume because she has one mental disorder that she could be a crazy and hallucinate all the time. Its not a very good representation of being neurodivergent.
The flashbacks were the most interesting part which is not something I usually say. But Vivienne and Annika were rather captivating and felt more real than anyone in the present time. I would have liked to see more of the transitional period of character growth but we were basically just told it happened which seems disingenuous to what we knew of the character in the past.
But the worst was the reveal of the plot twist. It was a crazy twist in that I didn’t suspect it! Because I could not care less about that person.
Overall, I would maybe recommend this book if you like atmospheric thrillers. Its got good ratings otherwise and what bothered me definitely won’t bother everyone. The writing was good and I would try this author again even if I didn’t like this one.
Thanks to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for an audio ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Will do a full write up later!