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garbgini's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
thecozyintrovert's review against another edition
Literally, what was even happening in this book? I made it to page 120 and was sick of having to google every freaking chapter to piece together what was happening. I loved the last house on needless street, so I thought I would love this one. Alas....
squamp's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
sandygx260's review against another edition
1.0
What a boring, pretentious, tedious slog of a novel. The gothic horror aspect comes from the lovingly-detailed violence committed against a young woman.
Yep, this is one of those books where people give it five stars because they think gooblygook translates into literature. Anyone who compares this to the light-years superior The Turn of the Screw has a screw lose in their head... or has never read said book.
Yep, this is one of those books where people give it five stars because they think gooblygook translates into literature. Anyone who compares this to the light-years superior The Turn of the Screw has a screw lose in their head... or has never read said book.
samstillreading's review against another edition
1.0
I just couldn't get into the style of this one, felt like I had to read each sentence several times over. A bit too slow paced for me. Gave up at 25% (just over 100 pages)
eshalliday's review against another edition
1.0
This doesn't work.
I had such high expectations after seeing positive reviews and recommendations, and this sounds like the kind of narrative&setting I usually lap up eagerly. However, read into other Goodreads reviews more closely, and you get an inkling of the ways in which this novel fails to function cohesively.
[LATER EDIT: Then, read the Goodreads questions on this book, and - spoilers notwithstanding - you'll get an even clearer idea of what kind of flaws are apparent here!]
The multiple viewpoints are tiresome; the jumping through time is baffling; the family tree is overcomplicated; the 'big reveal' is a total flop. The novel keeps promising, promising, promising that it'll get better, and... it just doesn't.
The cacophony of voices here is discordant; the 'main' character, Iris, gets completely lost in the din; the novel limps along at a pace so slow, it made me sag at the thought of taking it up again every time I did. The plot revisits certain things repeatedly, and the action just gets more and more diluted as it does so.
There is nothing here to grasp! There's no core substance to provide any impetus to keep reading. I finished the book, with pains, because I kept thinking SOMEthing would happen that justified all these rave reviews. Alas, nothing ever did. The book petered out with just as much disappointment as I'd felt all the way through. I'm left angry at the time I wasted reading this, when there are so many stellar books sitting on my 'to read' shelf, which I could have been enjoying.
I had such high expectations after seeing positive reviews and recommendations, and this sounds like the kind of narrative&setting I usually lap up eagerly. However, read into other Goodreads reviews more closely, and you get an inkling of the ways in which this novel fails to function cohesively.
[LATER EDIT: Then, read the Goodreads questions on this book, and - spoilers notwithstanding - you'll get an even clearer idea of what kind of flaws are apparent here!]
The multiple viewpoints are tiresome; the jumping through time is baffling; the family tree is overcomplicated; the 'big reveal' is a total flop. The novel keeps promising, promising, promising that it'll get better, and... it just doesn't.
The cacophony of voices here is discordant; the 'main' character, Iris, gets completely lost in the din; the novel limps along at a pace so slow, it made me sag at the thought of taking it up again every time I did. The plot revisits certain things repeatedly, and the action just gets more and more diluted as it does so.
There is nothing here to grasp! There's no core substance to provide any impetus to keep reading. I finished the book, with pains, because I kept thinking SOMEthing would happen that justified all these rave reviews. Alas, nothing ever did. The book petered out with just as much disappointment as I'd felt all the way through. I'm left angry at the time I wasted reading this, when there are so many stellar books sitting on my 'to read' shelf, which I could have been enjoying.
rebecca_w93's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75