Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

4 reviews

emvdw's review against another edition

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reflective relaxing sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Neither the cover, nor the description of this book really spoke to me, so I probably wouldn't have picked it up. However, it was on sale for cheap and because I saw the audiobook was narrated by Tom Hanks, I decided to "risk" it. Is was a great decision.

Of course, Tom Hanks is great. Turns out having Tom Hanks read you a book is exactly as delightful as you think it will, which is to say extremely.

The book itself is also pretty great. It's hard to say what makes it so good, it just is. It reminds me in that way of Stoner John Edward Williams, though this one has a bit of a bigger scope. The ending was not quite what I wanted, but perhaps what the book needed. 

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dumaurier's review against another edition

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emotional fast-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

3.5

gorgeous writing. like unbelievable beautiful. but though the familial relationships are written with such nuance, all of their main issues surrounding money (the house, schooling, their mother) were just not relatable—- like im sorry that its so hard to
spend all of your rich father’s money getting degrees you have no intention to use. i did like that this is addressed through celeste, but idk danny felt a bit out of touch.
anyways i will definitely seek out more of ann patchett’s writing but this story on the whole didnt jive with me

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sib_reads's review against another edition

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

3.5


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renepierre's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

“We had made a fetish out of our misfortune, fallen in love with it.”

An early contender for a favourite book of the year. The story follows Danny and Maeve, brother and sister growing up in the Dutch House, a place of grandeur that holds a history of its own. When their mother disappears and their father remarries a women named Andrea, everything changes. The siblings are shows an act of betrayal that they will hold onto and obsess over for the rest of their lives, which ultimately changes the trajectory of their lives. Patchett explores selfishness through all of her characters, but at the same time, adds a level of selflessness in them that constantly contradicts and levels them out as they try to navigate their lives and recover from their whole world being torn apart. 
The only reason this book isn’t a five star read for me is because of the amount of typos throughout this novel, I found it really distracting, especially in the important scenes. 

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