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afox98's review against another edition
3.0
Frankie is a famous author, best known for her debut work. Two novels later, her spark seems to have dimmed, so she's headed to Venice to get away for a while and get inspired for the looming deadline for her next book she owes her editor. While in Venice, a young woman claims to know her and becomes almost stalker-like. The girl's charisma overwhelms Frankie and she starts spending more time with her. All the while, a storm is brewing, one that will flood Venice at the worst time and make Frankie question her own sanity as she navigates reconciling her old friends with her new one. Spooky and somewhat unsettling.
youneverarrived's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-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
kricketa's review against another edition
4.0
Slow-moving, but atmospheric and creepy. I didn't like any of the characters but I loved the setting- 1960s Venice.
book_worm23's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-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
2.0
abroadwell's review against another edition
3.0
Jean-Paul Sartre wrote a series of existentialist novels that illustrate characters acting in "bad faith", where bad faith for Sartre is claiming that you have no control over what you do; that your collaboration, lying, or cowardice are forced on you by things outside your control.
The lead character in Palace of the Drowned is an English novelist, Frankie, who is a textbook example of bad faith in acti0n.
Frankie has received a bad review of her latest novel. The author of the review is a younger aspiring novelist named Gilly, and when Frankie meets Gilly in Venice, she befriends her. Then Frankie kills Gilly, takes her unfinished manuscript and publishes it as her own. When found out, she takes her own life.
Those are the bare facts, but at every moment the novels takes Frankie's point of view -- she didn't mean to kill the young woman, she was confused, she didn't intend to flee the scene of the crime, she didn't want to pass off Gillie's novel as her own, etc. So each of Frankie's transgressions is fully or partially excused.
This left me feeling fairly confused about the author's intention. Is it to show sympathy for Frankie (and by extension, other murderous novelists?!) or to point out the uselessness of endless justifications for bad behavior?
The lead character in Palace of the Drowned is an English novelist, Frankie, who is a textbook example of bad faith in acti0n.
Frankie has received a bad review of her latest novel. The author of the review is a younger aspiring novelist named Gilly, and when Frankie meets Gilly in Venice, she befriends her. Then Frankie kills Gilly, takes her unfinished manuscript and publishes it as her own. When found out, she takes her own life.
Those are the bare facts, but at every moment the novels takes Frankie's point of view -- she didn't mean to kill the young woman, she was confused, she didn't intend to flee the scene of the crime, she didn't want to pass off Gillie's novel as her own, etc. So each of Frankie's transgressions is fully or partially excused.
This left me feeling fairly confused about the author's intention. Is it to show sympathy for Frankie (and by extension, other murderous novelists?!) or to point out the uselessness of endless justifications for bad behavior?
jmatkinson1's review against another edition
5.0
Struggling novelist Frances Croy has had a bad year. Poor reviews for her latest novel, especially one from JL, had upset her and finally she had a meltdown at the Savoy leading to a stint in a 'sanatorium'. The offer of a place to stay in Venice seems ideal for an escape to get over it all but Venice is not the place of romance and sunshine. The weather is cold and wet and Frankie finds herself taken up by a young writer called Gilly who seems just a little intense. Frankie fears for her sanity as she is convinced there is someone in an empty building and then the weather closes in.
I really liked Mangan's first novel but this blows it out of the water. Venice is a real star, not the romantic side but the ghostly, gothic nature of the city on the lagoon comes to the fore. Frankie sits somewhere to one side of the line of sanity but the reader is questioning everything as the plot progresses. Whilst the narrative does have a huge sense of inevitability it is brilliantly written, both claustrophobic but also with a terrific imagination. I was completely gripped as could not put this down, racing through to the end and loving every page.
I really liked Mangan's first novel but this blows it out of the water. Venice is a real star, not the romantic side but the ghostly, gothic nature of the city on the lagoon comes to the fore. Frankie sits somewhere to one side of the line of sanity but the reader is questioning everything as the plot progresses. Whilst the narrative does have a huge sense of inevitability it is brilliantly written, both claustrophobic but also with a terrific imagination. I was completely gripped as could not put this down, racing through to the end and loving every page.
tamara_joy's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Vomit, Mental illness, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcoholism, and Alcohol
Minor: Car accident, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Infertility, and Injury/Injury detail
rsbrown19's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I found this book to be slow and anticlimactic. Nothing really excited me throughout the book, and the writing style was much more narrative and reflective than I enjoy. I would not consider this suspenseful or a psychological thriller.
bizzlin's review against another edition
2.0
I found this a slog. The characters were unlikeable and ultimately nothing really went anywhere. I was disappointed in the ending.
sophiaeck's review against another edition
3.0
Very atmospheric, nice if you want to be in Italy. To me this feels like if The Stranger by Camus, The awakening by Chopin, and The Paris Apartment by Foley had a baby