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Reviews tagging 'Death'

Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier

17 reviews

loreleianderson's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

The plot is interesting and du Maurier's writing is delightful. But the romance part is juvenile. For me, I could just switch roles with Joss and Patience instead of Jem and Mary to understand what Patience saw in Joss and also see the future of Mary.

Mary is, in my opinion, too reckless but i admired her loyalty and courage even if she annoyed me. 

Is a violent book and you won't find any comfort.

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readerrandi's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Mary has to be one of my favorite protagonists ever.

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taleofabibliophile's review against another edition

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slow-paced

3.0


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redheadorganist's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


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zoeshmoee's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0


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basil_touche's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I enjoyed the atmosphere and mystery in the first half of the book, but the later half really dragged on and meandered in parts. The fact that this book is well known for
smuggling and wreckers
but in reality features very little of it was very disappointing.

The main twist was incredibly predictable & how the narrative described the villain seemed a tad ableist to me. With that, the final act didn't live up to the build up the book was trying to create and went out with a wimper. I found it very difficult to make it through the last 100 pages or so, and I lost count over how many times the moors were described. It seemed as though the description took over the narrative for large chunks of it and when the scenery is mostly empty moors it gets repetitive. fast.

The romance was so lackluster as well, there wasn't enough time spent on it and some of their interactions came off as creepy, so that how it ended
(that Mary gives up her hopes of returning home to travel with Jem Merlyn, who very clearly doesn't see her as his equal)
annoyed me. Also there's a lot of sexism, I know it's from the 1930s but even for what I've read of Du Maurier's other works there is quite a lot here. Please read Frenchman's Creek by Du Maurier instead if you want to read a good romance by her.

This just wasn't what I was looking for, perhaps I'll have better luck with Rebecca if I want some good gothic literature from her and Moonfleet by John Meade Falkner for a story about
smuggling.

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kirstym25's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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

3.75


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bookwormcat's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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machenn's review against another edition

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

4.0


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blewballoon's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

There is a lot of unpleasantness in this story. Most of the characters are terrible people, the atmosphere is bleak, and there's a sense of isolation for the main character as she deals with a lot of difficulties alone. I did like her, she's smart and she fights back as hard as she can when faced with any kind of attack, mental or physical. If it weren't for her strength of spirit, the book would have been rough to get through. I didn't care for the romance, though. Overall, not as appealing as Rebecca but it does build a strong sense of atmosphere and the prose is well done.
Bit of unfortunate implication for the albino person to be evil, even with the main character trying to remind herself not to be creeped out by his appearance before he's revealed as the villain

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