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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
Un libro che non parte mai ed è tutto così piatto! Salvo poi spiccare il volo nelle ultime 30 pagine in modo velocissimo ed inverosimile. Come se l'autrice avesse fretta di finirlo. Peccato perché dalle recensioni lette su Instagram avevo grandi aspettative! Di bello ha solo la copertina...
Art, freedom and obsession collide in Elizabeth MacNeal’s The Doll Factory. This debut novel marries historical fiction with elements of the psychological thriller to create a proper page-turner. I practically devoured this book on a seven-hour train journey (from Kalgoorlie to Perth) last weekend and have been thinking about it ever since.
It’s set in London during the Great Exhibition and the era of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a loose association of English painters who rebelled against the art standards of the day, and focuses on a young woman called Iris Whittle who is drawn into their circle, first as an artist’s model, but then as a burgeoning painter in her own right.
Along the way, she attracts the unwanted attention of a taxidermist, Silas Reed, who is constantly in pursuit of the weird and wonderful. Silas becomes obsessed with Iris and her deformity — a collarbone that is twisted out of shape so that she has a slight stoop to her left side — and makes plans to befriend her, whether she likes it or not.
What results is a fast-paced story in which Iris, oblivious to Silas’s increasingly dangerous obsession with her, falls prey to his dark, manipulative ways…
To read the rest of my review, please visit my blog.
It’s set in London during the Great Exhibition and the era of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a loose association of English painters who rebelled against the art standards of the day, and focuses on a young woman called Iris Whittle who is drawn into their circle, first as an artist’s model, but then as a burgeoning painter in her own right.
Along the way, she attracts the unwanted attention of a taxidermist, Silas Reed, who is constantly in pursuit of the weird and wonderful. Silas becomes obsessed with Iris and her deformity — a collarbone that is twisted out of shape so that she has a slight stoop to her left side — and makes plans to befriend her, whether she likes it or not.
What results is a fast-paced story in which Iris, oblivious to Silas’s increasingly dangerous obsession with her, falls prey to his dark, manipulative ways…
To read the rest of my review, please visit my blog.
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5 stars. This book took me forever to get into; I had to force myself to pick it up until over halfway through. It was a decent read but the ending was thoroughly unsatisfying after all the protagonist went through.
London 1850, Iris Whittle jobbar med att måla porslinsdockor, men drömmer om att bli konstnär. Hon träffar Louis Frost, en medlem av prerafaeliterna, och går med på att stå modell för honom mot att han lär henne att måla.
Samtidigt följer vi Silas Reed, uppstoppare av djur, kuriosasamlare och allmänt weirdo. Världsutställningen håller på att byggas, och Iris och Silas möts flyktigt, vilket leder till en besatthet hos honom som bara blir mer och mer sjuk.
Stämningen i den här boken liknar den i The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock - det bygger upp till en urladdning som man vet kommer att bli en katastrof.
Jag gillar när man blandar fakta och fiktion, som att några konstnärer från det historiska Pre Raphaelite Brotherhood är med (men inte huvudkaraktären). Då boken är väldigt välskriven och dessutom med en stark kvinnlig huvudkaraktär får den en femma av mig!
Samtidigt följer vi Silas Reed, uppstoppare av djur, kuriosasamlare och allmänt weirdo. Världsutställningen håller på att byggas, och Iris och Silas möts flyktigt, vilket leder till en besatthet hos honom som bara blir mer och mer sjuk.
Stämningen i den här boken liknar den i The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock - det bygger upp till en urladdning som man vet kommer att bli en katastrof.
Jag gillar när man blandar fakta och fiktion, som att några konstnärer från det historiska Pre Raphaelite Brotherhood är med (men inte huvudkaraktären). Då boken är väldigt välskriven och dessutom med en stark kvinnlig huvudkaraktär får den en femma av mig!
dark
fast-paced
Not what I expected.
A rather dull and cliched account of Victorian London,
And then we get the gratuitously cruel taxidermist, has to be a creepy weirdo with a hobby like that, right?
It was pretty obvious it was going to end up borrowing heavily from Fowles' 'The Collector', by which point I was completely repulsed by it.
Poor plot and characterisation. Disappointing.
A rather dull and cliched account of Victorian London,
Spoiler
I rolled my eyes when the beautiful working class redhead gets adopted as a Pre-Raphaelite stunner.And then we get the gratuitously cruel taxidermist, has to be a creepy weirdo with a hobby like that, right?
It was pretty obvious it was going to end up borrowing heavily from Fowles' 'The Collector', by which point I was completely repulsed by it.
Poor plot and characterisation. Disappointing.
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was fire. I loved almost everything, the vibes, the dialogue, the atmosphere, the setting, all of it was great. Parts made me cry and were shocking but some were so beautifully written and well plotted. I only wish we got to know what happened to Iris at the end. But not all endings are meant to be wrapped up in a nice little bow and I’m okay with that.
Ps. albie has my heart forever
Ps. albie has my heart forever