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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Likes:
- Immediately love the art work and how it’s supposed to be a movie cover
- Love that it immediately gets to the point/plot
- I love her choice to set this in the 50s cuz it adds a layer to the spookiness, cuz of how electricity would be standard by now but the fact that the Doyle’s don’t have it makes it even more spooky then if it were just set in a time where electricity wasn’t a big thing yet
- I really like Noemí’s characterization
- At the house you’re stuck in the 1800s outside you’re in present day and the long drive up the gloomy hill represent the transfer from present to past and vice versa
- I like all the themes of eugenics, and fairytales, and Catholicism, not only are they good topics to dissect but they also add another layer to the spookiness of the story
- If I annotated my book there would definitely be some lines that I would highlight or underline
- While I have some reservations about this story I do think that she’s objectively a great writer and really really knows how to make her readers feel super grossed out, like I truly felt like gagging and throwing up during some of these scenes
- I loved reading all the extras in the back of the paperback
Dislikes:
- I don’t think I like the writing style it feels kinda flat a lot of the time (not all but still a lot)
- I liked the idea of this story but there’s something about the execution of it that I just don’t really like (I feel this way about the other book that I read by her too).
- This is kinda spoilery so fair warning: but I don’t like how she relies on Neomi being put in circumstances where she either fears being violated or is violated, like yeah obviously it makes the reader uncomfortable and it is a common thing to do in gothic novels but still she could’ve tried to do something else to try and evoke that uncomfortable feeling in her readers
- I also don’t think she’s very good at atmospheric writing and that’s a pretty huge thing that you need when you’re writing a gothic
Random thoughts:
- Wow this book has A LOT of praise
- Okay this might be a very thin connection but does anyone else kind of think that the Doyles are sort of like the guy from a study in drowning (not Preston but the guy that invited Effy to his fathers home, I’m completely blanking on his name)??
- Well I do like this one better than the other book I read by her
- I’d say it’s a medium paced book
- You’ve probably already heard this but people saying that if you like this then you’ll like the Hacienda and vice versa are 100% right
- I also think that if you liked the movie the invitation with Nathalie Emmanuel and Thomas Doherty, that you would also like this cuz I can definitely see some similarities
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Maybe 3.5. (Actually finished on the 10th I think).
It was creepy and weird and fun. It was a great book club discussion.
It was creepy and weird and fun. It was a great book club discussion.
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
This is the good spooky stuff. Moreno-Garcia takes well-worn Gothic tropes but makes them into something new, both through the setting and the wonderful writing and characterization.
And through -- let's be honest -- making colonization the real villain.
It bogged for me in the latter sections, but picked back up in the end. Overall, I really liked what she did here and look forward to reading more of her work.
And through -- let's be honest -- making colonization the real villain.
It bogged for me in the latter sections, but picked back up in the end. Overall, I really liked what she did here and look forward to reading more of her work.
4/4.5☆
although this took me a week to read, i wouldn't fault the book for that. It delivered atmosphere, suspense, ROMANCE, horror...the romance was so good too. Like we all need a Francis in our lives. I wish their was an epilogue because I want to see how everything played out in the end, but I always want more from these kind of books with characters i love
although this took me a week to read, i wouldn't fault the book for that. It delivered atmosphere, suspense, ROMANCE, horror...the romance was so good too. Like we all need a Francis in our lives. I wish their was an epilogue because I want to see how everything played out in the end, but I always want more from these kind of books with characters i love