Scan barcode
angelabewick81's review
- 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
3.75
mellkayy's review
My third read of 2019 was yet another three star read! That’s three for three now. I’m hoping my reading picks up by the end of the month.
Melmoth by Sarah Perry is a gothic, dark tale of interconnecting stories centred around Melmoth the Witness, a being that appears and wants to take you away if you have sinned. Throughout the novel the character’s and the reader are left querying whether Melmoth is a myth or in fact real.
The story primarily focuses on Helen Franklin, a forty-something woman in self-imposed exile in Prague. Throughout the novel we are given snippets of other people’s lives and their interactions with Melmoth the Witness, before returning to our protagonist.
The beginning of this novel had such promise, but ultimately I felt let down. Similarly to The Essex Serpent, I was expecting a big reveal or twist, but instead was left feeling disappointed.
For a 270 page novel, it became quite tedious. We were shown the same story of Melmoth arriving and wanting to take people away with her so frequently I became bored. I think if the stories were more fleshed out, and we got to learn more about the other character’s, this would have been an outstanding novel. Instead, we were introduced to people from different time periods, in different historical settings, then Melmoth would arrive and we’d return to Helen.
Ultimately, this novel fell a bit flat for me. Character development is so important to me, and I felt the character’s in this novel were used merely as a tool to reiterate the story of Melmoth, rather than being fully developed characters. I would have much preferred this to have been longer, and for the character’s to have been fully explored.
Undoubtedly, Sarah Perry can write. She is extremely talented, and for that reason I am giving this one three stars.
Melmoth by Sarah Perry is a gothic, dark tale of interconnecting stories centred around Melmoth the Witness, a being that appears and wants to take you away if you have sinned. Throughout the novel the character’s and the reader are left querying whether Melmoth is a myth or in fact real.
The story primarily focuses on Helen Franklin, a forty-something woman in self-imposed exile in Prague. Throughout the novel we are given snippets of other people’s lives and their interactions with Melmoth the Witness, before returning to our protagonist.
The beginning of this novel had such promise, but ultimately I felt let down. Similarly to The Essex Serpent, I was expecting a big reveal or twist, but instead was left feeling disappointed.
For a 270 page novel, it became quite tedious. We were shown the same story of Melmoth arriving and wanting to take people away with her so frequently I became bored. I think if the stories were more fleshed out, and we got to learn more about the other character’s, this would have been an outstanding novel. Instead, we were introduced to people from different time periods, in different historical settings, then Melmoth would arrive and we’d return to Helen.
Ultimately, this novel fell a bit flat for me. Character development is so important to me, and I felt the character’s in this novel were used merely as a tool to reiterate the story of Melmoth, rather than being fully developed characters. I would have much preferred this to have been longer, and for the character’s to have been fully explored.
Undoubtedly, Sarah Perry can write. She is extremely talented, and for that reason I am giving this one three stars.
hadu's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
danteinvidia's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
3.75
lsparrow's review against another edition
2.0
I loved the language and descriptions that this author uses even though i don't connect to the stories.
klohrentz's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
3.5
memol's review
A slog to read. Slow, dragging pace, boring characters with the tiniest bits and pieces revealed almost grudgingly by the author. I had no interest in learning more about this being called Melmoth, or the characters.
wintergirl94's review against another edition
2.0
Oof, this was a struggle for me. I have read a few reviews of this book that I agree with: no doubt this is a highly literary book (perhaps a reason I didn’t love it) and I found the prose thick and sluggy. I couldn’t get into any real flow! Any time there was any pace it was halted by a long description of hammy ‘horror’.
I am easily scared so I will admit I got the creeps but even I could tell it wasn’t your typical horror story.
I found Helen to be the most boring and unreal table character, I didn’t really care what happened to her either way - not great for a main character.
I would recommend The Essex Serpent however. Such a great book and it is on my re-read list. Sadly, Melmoth will not be.
I am easily scared so I will admit I got the creeps but even I could tell it wasn’t your typical horror story.
I found Helen to be the most boring and unreal table character, I didn’t really care what happened to her either way - not great for a main character.
I would recommend The Essex Serpent however. Such a great book and it is on my re-read list. Sadly, Melmoth will not be.
baksuz's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0