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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Reminds me of a Kate Morton novel. Old house, suppressed memories, family tragedy. It's all there. Was a fast read, held my attention throughout.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
I picked this up thinking it would be a pretty average book, but I ended up really enjoying it. Funny how life was at the end of the 60's and how people chose to live their lives and hide things they thought could be potentially damaging to their reputation. I loved the two time differences of Amber and Lorna's stories. Both very headstrong women and not giving up on what they wanted.
A strong 3.5 or even a 3.75, good and I'd recommend it but not really a 4 star. If you love houses with personality, evil step mothers, and strong sibling bonds, all while dealing with a death, you'll enjoy it.
A foreboding manor house is the centerpiece of Eve Chase’s new novel, Black Rabbit Hall. Readers will instantly be sucked into the dual narratives of two women living decades apart whose fates are tied to this hall.
Lorna, a modern bride-to-be, is searching for the perfect wedding venue. While a crumbling estate buried in the Cornish country side seems like an odd choice, something about the house captivates her in a way she cannot explain.
Thirty years before, Amber Alton and her family retreat to the house as a respite from the world. The Alton children run wild in the woods and play on their little, private beach without a care. Despite the lack of modern conveniences, their parents always seem happiest here as well. One stormy afternoon a tragic accident irrevocably changes the Alton family, and the house seems to change as well. It is less like an idyll sanctuary and more like a menacing prison.
The eerie gravity of the house draws Lorna in thirty years after the Alton’s tragedy. She can feel some inexplicable connection to the place and the buried secrets and betrayals. Unraveling the mysteries of the house and the family who once lived there quickly devolve into her primary obsession.
It is rare to find a book with dual plots featuring equally gripping storylines. There is this delicious sense of impending doom throughout the book that makes it impossible to put down. As soon as readers think they know what will happen next, the story turns sharply in another direction. While Chase has woven some complex affairs spanning a great deal of time, she never loses us for a moment. Her attention to details makes Black Rabbit Hall a tangible place as we lose ourselves in the plot.
Lorna, a modern bride-to-be, is searching for the perfect wedding venue. While a crumbling estate buried in the Cornish country side seems like an odd choice, something about the house captivates her in a way she cannot explain.
Thirty years before, Amber Alton and her family retreat to the house as a respite from the world. The Alton children run wild in the woods and play on their little, private beach without a care. Despite the lack of modern conveniences, their parents always seem happiest here as well. One stormy afternoon a tragic accident irrevocably changes the Alton family, and the house seems to change as well. It is less like an idyll sanctuary and more like a menacing prison.
The eerie gravity of the house draws Lorna in thirty years after the Alton’s tragedy. She can feel some inexplicable connection to the place and the buried secrets and betrayals. Unraveling the mysteries of the house and the family who once lived there quickly devolve into her primary obsession.
It is rare to find a book with dual plots featuring equally gripping storylines. There is this delicious sense of impending doom throughout the book that makes it impossible to put down. As soon as readers think they know what will happen next, the story turns sharply in another direction. While Chase has woven some complex affairs spanning a great deal of time, she never loses us for a moment. Her attention to details makes Black Rabbit Hall a tangible place as we lose ourselves in the plot.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Este libro me ha encantado, ni una semana me ha durado. Me ha gustado mucho la forma de narrar que tiene la autora, contando lo necesario, sin darlo todo masticado. La trama se desarrolla entre el pasado y el presentes, dos líneas temporadas que la autora ha logrado unir muy bien. Es cierto que algunas cosas me las veía venir porque la trama no es original del todo, pero los personajes, su evolución y la ambientación lo han compensado. Aunque como me ha pasado con otras novelas del estilo, no he conseguido entender a la protagonista del presente. Eso sí, me quedo con que me ha atrapado y eso es lo que estaba buscando, así que feliz.
dark
emotional
It's got stylistic elements I don't like. It alternates between first person and third person (pick one, please) and it's told in present tense. It also alternates timelines between the late 1960s and thirty years later, and why not just give the year instead of writing out thirty years later? I read the first section, the earlier timeline, and I thought it was okay, except it jarred on me that this family was in England and called their mother Momma. I know, I know, the mom was American but this just felt like a clumsy attempt to illustrate that and it bothered me. And the narrator kept saying things that just didn't make any sense to me, such as that her mother was "one of those people who really only seem to come alive on holiday" or some such thing. I'm sorry, one of what kind of people? Who knows people like that? and these weird observations happened all over the place. I nearly didn't finish it except when I put it aside I would have had to go all the way downstairs to get another book and I wasn't feeling very well so I just read the book that was there even though I didn't like it. I totally skimmed through the parts I didn't like. It's got this massive family secret reveal at the end that I didn't think was very coherent but maybe that's because I was skimming. Anyway for me it was a weak book that didn't engage me.
