Reviews

Asta's Book by Barbara Vine, Ruth Rendell

sophie_liest's review

mysterious reflective relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

passifloraincarnata's review

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Classic Rendell!  Intense character development, multiple unreliable narrators, secrets that grow and mutate into monsters, aging, brutal emotional honesty, and mysteries that are never quite what you think they are.  

Of course, it's also a story about Danish immigrants in London in the early twentieth century. But if you're a Rendell fan, you'll know that's just a side-bonus. 

samantha_2023's review against another edition

funny mysterious slow-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? Yes

4.0

mere_blair's review

informative mysterious sad

4.0

scj's review

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

jant8's review

dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad slow-paced

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

4.0

casvelyn's review

mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

kikiandarrowsfishshelf's review

5.0

Whoa, I so did not see that coming.

The first Vine book I read was [b:The Blood Doctor|508915|The Blood Doctor|Barbara Vine|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1266572729s/508915.jpg|3373001] and while I could figure out where the book was going, it was still compelling.

This book is great. You think you have it figured out, then you're wrong. Then you think "aha", but still no.

My only quibble is that three of the chapters were rather, well, dry. I understand why they were dry (it was trial transcripts), but still.

Awesome. Vine does a really good job with the character of Ann. The behavior fits and some of the dialogue is wonderfully done.

christinem's review

3.0

I wish I could give this more than 3 stars, because on the whole I really enjoyed it. I was engrossed by the story and by the mystery it offered, and I loved the ending. But there were two points when the author seemed to go so far from the main story that I got bored and started questioning which story they were actually trying to tell. I hoped that by the end the incredibly long detours would make sense, but I still cannot see how the 60 page account of something the protagonist was researching was warranted. This and another, slightly shorter, detour broke the flow of the story and were hard to persist through.

peanotsilent's review against another edition

4.0

Dividing books in terms of genres is such an unfair practice, especially when genre literature is somehow always considered inferior compared to "real literature". This is truer for books like this, books which transcend genre trappings.

Gripping, yet moving. I had forgotten what it was like to finish a book in a day because not finishing it was not an acceptable option.