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bookwormamber's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book. It had a lot of moving parts all involving different people, but it still worked, and all came together very nicely in the end.
lillinares's review against another edition
4.0
I wasn’t sure about this book at first. I couldn’t understand Edie. Her bitterness tired me, even if it was a justifiable bitterness. However, the mysterious atmosphere of the book gripped me and I carried on. I’m so happy I did. This is a beautiful tale of forgiveness and healing in the long wake of a child’s death.
katy_bee's review against another edition
2.0
Reasonable holiday read, it kept me turning pages early on-although I had predicted most of the twists before they happened.
The overall themes were a little clichéd and characters fairly by the numbers. Some of the mystery and drama felt a bit artificial. That sounds a bit harsher than it probably justifies. I was perfectly happy reading it but I suspect I'll have forgotten it in a week or two
The overall themes were a little clichéd and characters fairly by the numbers. Some of the mystery and drama felt a bit artificial. That sounds a bit harsher than it probably justifies. I was perfectly happy reading it but I suspect I'll have forgotten it in a week or two
hannelorexo's review against another edition
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
3.25
colleend's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
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? Yes
3.25
juliacolleen's review against another edition
3.0
Probably a 3.5. I don't like rating a book I read and genuinely enjoyed this low, but I just didn't love it and probably wouldn't choose to read it again.
I was thrilled to find a book based in Sicily, because I lived there for 5 weeks in college and loved it (a small beach town in Italy, obviously I loved it). I was disappointed because to me it just felt like all of the picturesque descriptions of the Sicilian landscape fell flat. I don't know if it was the writing itself or the plot, which was pretty depressing. It could have been a cool comparison, beautiful scenery with grotesque evil. But it didn't work for me.
This book felt heavy with grief, and not in a good way (for me). The main character is so angry and I never found myself liking her. I understand that grief can make people bitter and angry and I empathize, but it didn't do much for me in this storyline.
I wish I could articulate better what I enjoyed and didn't enjoy about this book, but this is what I've got. The storyline was creative and interesting. (Minor not-spoiler spoiler) I always felt like we were going to find that the main character had been hallucinating some major plot points or imagining half the storyline because the writing was so...removed?
I read it in about 24 hours and it's a good read when you're in a rut. Otherwise, don't get your hopes up. Just
my 2 cents!
I was thrilled to find a book based in Sicily, because I lived there for 5 weeks in college and loved it (a small beach town in Italy, obviously I loved it). I was disappointed because to me it just felt like all of the picturesque descriptions of the Sicilian landscape fell flat. I don't know if it was the writing itself or the plot, which was pretty depressing. It could have been a cool comparison, beautiful scenery with grotesque evil. But it didn't work for me.
This book felt heavy with grief, and not in a good way (for me). The main character is so angry and I never found myself liking her. I understand that grief can make people bitter and angry and I empathize, but it didn't do much for me in this storyline.
I wish I could articulate better what I enjoyed and didn't enjoy about this book, but this is what I've got. The storyline was creative and interesting. (Minor not-spoiler spoiler) I always felt like we were going to find that the main character had been hallucinating some major plot points or imagining half the storyline because the writing was so...removed?
I read it in about 24 hours and it's a good read when you're in a rut. Otherwise, don't get your hopes up. Just
my 2 cents!
kristinal_19's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
irish_bookfairy's review against another edition
4.0
My second book by Louise Douglas and although not as good as "The room in the attic", I still enjoyed it. Anything to do with old buildings with family secrets will grab my attention. I don't even care that most of it was predictable and that not all characters were likeable, that's close to reality anyway.
We follow Edie and her ex-husband Joe in their struggles of life after losing their 6yo son. Edie blamed her mother-in-law, Anna, and even at Anna's death after 10 years, her hatred is still fresh.
Even though Edie would love nothing more than to never have to deal with Anna, she finds herself meeting Joe at the Sicilian airport to deal with Anna's Will.
Both her and Joe are left the family's villa in Sicily and now have to decide what to with it and all what's left inside. Trying to make a quick escape, Edie wishes to sell it fast and move on. But naturally that ain't happening as fast as she liked and things starts to change for the estranged pair.
We follow Edie and her ex-husband Joe in their struggles of life after losing their 6yo son. Edie blamed her mother-in-law, Anna, and even at Anna's death after 10 years, her hatred is still fresh.
Even though Edie would love nothing more than to never have to deal with Anna, she finds herself meeting Joe at the Sicilian airport to deal with Anna's Will.
Both her and Joe are left the family's villa in Sicily and now have to decide what to with it and all what's left inside. Trying to make a quick escape, Edie wishes to sell it fast and move on. But naturally that ain't happening as fast as she liked and things starts to change for the estranged pair.
whimpulse's review against another edition
3.0
My favorite thing about this book was the way Sicily and later the villa was described. It's gorgeous - I'm imagining a very rustic white house, but what really impressed me was everything outside it. The overgrown, wild gardens behind the wrought iron gates. The almost hidden graves. The big wine cellar. The cave that continues to the shore. I would love to spend a summer here.
Edie is a realistic main character with many flaws, and Joe complements her nicely. Grief is a main theme in a large portion of the book, which made it heavy to listen to sometimes. Edie did come off as a bit of a broken record sometimes, constantly feeling, hearing, seeing or just dreaming about Daniel and hating Anna. But in a way that too is kind of realistic - people can get pretty stuck with some recurring thoughts. And there was some change, especially in the hating Anna department.
The mystery was alright.
What I'm understanding is that I have no idea what "gothic" means in literature. I'm picturing Edgar Allan Poe when I hear it, or Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Dark or eerie stories with scary ghosts and tragedies. But now, after listening to this book (that had somehow appeared in my Audible library a few years ago), I checked the blurb and some reviews and saw the word a lot. I guess it's because of the supernatural elements? "Loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting" is what Wikipedia defines it as. Hmm. I guess this does qualify, but somehow it's not the first word I would've chosen to describe this as.
Edie is a realistic main character with many flaws, and Joe complements her nicely. Grief is a main theme in a large portion of the book, which made it heavy to listen to sometimes. Edie did come off as a bit of a broken record sometimes, constantly feeling, hearing, seeing or just dreaming about Daniel and hating Anna. But in a way that too is kind of realistic - people can get pretty stuck with some recurring thoughts. And there was some change, especially in the hating Anna department.
The mystery was alright.
Spoiler
Parts of it were unsurprising - obviously the girl with scratched off face was dead, obviously Matilda had something to do with it. Matilda's father being dead and her being a doll enthusiast was just unhinged, not particularly essential to the plot unless I missed something. I'm not complaining though, unhinged is entertaining. The ghost story was strangely chill, not once did I feel like this was ominous in the supernatural department.What I'm understanding is that I have no idea what "gothic" means in literature. I'm picturing Edgar Allan Poe when I hear it, or Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Dark or eerie stories with scary ghosts and tragedies. But now, after listening to this book (that had somehow appeared in my Audible library a few years ago), I checked the blurb and some reviews and saw the word a lot. I guess it's because of the supernatural elements? "Loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting" is what Wikipedia defines it as. Hmm. I guess this does qualify, but somehow it's not the first word I would've chosen to describe this as.