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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Quick novella. Not my typical Christmas read, but I did like the change in perspective and the who done it. Pretty dark Christmas story but entertaining!
dark
fast-paced
mysterious
slow-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
Nice short read and I like the joirnal like style of writing but I don’t know if I just kept reading it too late in the evenings. It was hard to get through it.
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
It wasn’t what I was expecting (more Gothic, creepy house thriller) but it was entertaining. I was hoping for more of a twist I think.
fast-paced
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This story is told by an anonymous narrator spending Christmas alone in New York. As she begins to clean out a closet, she comes across a box holding an old diary and the reader is immediately transported from the isolated apartment in New York to 30 years in the past when an orphaned student is invited to a family Christmas spent in the English countryside.
I enjoyed the atmosphere of the warm cozy family Christmas as it was juxtaposed against a village of locals with suspicious eyes and sometimes malicious gossip about certain members of the family. The characters were sometimes welcoming and other times cold and unassuming. There were moments of suspenseful tension that I really enjoyed, especially as the characters walked between the manor house and the village. I did feel like I might have enjoyed this more if the characters and their motives had been a little more fleshed out.
Still, it’s a short quick read, and I do enjoy a darker holiday story.
I enjoyed the atmosphere of the warm cozy family Christmas as it was juxtaposed against a village of locals with suspicious eyes and sometimes malicious gossip about certain members of the family. The characters were sometimes welcoming and other times cold and unassuming. There were moments of suspenseful tension that I really enjoyed, especially as the characters walked between the manor house and the village. I did feel like I might have enjoyed this more if the characters and their motives had been a little more fleshed out.
Still, it’s a short quick read, and I do enjoy a darker holiday story.