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steen's review against another edition
5.0
I wish I had the opportunity to study this book in university! There is so much to unpack. The unease in the first half of the book is done so masterfully, kicked into overdrive when Maxim and our nameless protagonist arrive at Manderley and the reader is consumed by the estate and Rebecca.
I immensely enjoyed the tension as a reader in the second half when secrets are revealed. The tension with identifying, sympathizing & rooting for both Rebecca and the protagonist, who are both at odds, but, at the same conjoined, was so well done.
I immensely enjoyed the tension as a reader in the second half when secrets are revealed. The tension with identifying, sympathizing & rooting for both Rebecca and the protagonist, who are both at odds, but, at the same conjoined, was so well done.
elle_aline's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
It is so difficult to rate this book or even to form an opinion on it, as it was the first English classic I've read in English itself.
I certainly liked it a lot, that for sure. But I don't think I loved it.
The mystery keeps you on your toes constantly, rendering me unable to stop reading even though it was such a difficult book because of the language.
It makes you believe you know what's going to happen only to turn on you. I wholeheartedly believed that Maxim loved Rebecca. I also fell for the pregnancy, although I had a short moment of doubt.
I had guessed that Rebecca cheated on Maxim in that cabin and he caught her there and murderered her. This was quite early in the book. This is surprisingly close to truth and yet so wrong. Later, when Mrs. De Winter talked to Mrs. Danvers and Rebecca's affairs were revealed I thought it couldn't be the cheating, perhaps it was related to Rebecca being pregnant and aborting it. Again, close to the truth.
That's the way a mystery book has to go for me. Making me guess enough to feel like I know what's coming and then shocking me with how close I was.
I still don't know how to feel about Mr. De winter. From the beginning I greatly disliked him and saw him of a prime example of grooming.
Again, she is 21 and he is 42. He is quite literally double her age.
He showed all those dangerous signs of grooming, like how he selfishly married the lady despite his acknowledgement that she was too young and that she would be unhappy. He knows she could love younger men, but he disregards it out of his own wish to marry her.
How he didn't want a wedding because *he* had had one, selfishly ignoring that the lady might want one.
Their marriage felt more or less like Maxim bought the lady's companionship off of Mrs. Van hopper. Like he heard that one can buy companionship and thought he might do it himself.
These were my thoughts at their marriage and now looking back on it, after reading the afterword, it rings truer than I thought.
Maxim continues on being an awful husband. Infantilizing her in every waking moment, not helping her in any way. He bascially drops her off at manderely left to her own devices. He doesn't help her adjust in the slightest, instead treats her like a pet (herself feeling so), leaves her out of everything and barely talks to her.
After the reveal that he did NOT love rebecca and truly "loves" the lady, it all turns over. Both the lady's relief and my own relief shadowed his previous behaviors, after all i wanted her to be happy. Yet i was not quite happy and now I think my first assessment of him may not have been so wrong.
He may have not loved Rebecca, but does it make him any less of a groomer and bad husband?
Now to Mrs. De winter.
We don't know her name, of course. I feel like there's little to add to the analysis of her in the afterword.
I certainly liked living in her world. I would never live and be like her, but I enjoyed her. Woefully daydreaming, about pretty much everything. Her obsession with Rebecca.
She also got over herself enough to not make her passiveness aggravating. E.g. talking to Frank, coming down to the ball.
Rebecca was... well she was Rebecca.
The writing was very beautiful.
All in all it was a page turning mystery i quite enjoyed.
It just lacked *something* for me.
I certainly liked it a lot, that for sure. But I don't think I loved it.
The mystery keeps you on your toes constantly, rendering me unable to stop reading even though it was such a difficult book because of the language.
It makes you believe you know what's going to happen only to turn on you. I wholeheartedly believed that Maxim loved Rebecca. I also fell for the pregnancy, although I had a short moment of doubt.
I had guessed that Rebecca cheated on Maxim in that cabin and he caught her there and murderered her. This was quite early in the book. This is surprisingly close to truth and yet so wrong. Later, when Mrs. De Winter talked to Mrs. Danvers and Rebecca's affairs were revealed I thought it couldn't be the cheating, perhaps it was related to Rebecca being pregnant and aborting it. Again, close to the truth.
That's the way a mystery book has to go for me. Making me guess enough to feel like I know what's coming and then shocking me with how close I was.
I still don't know how to feel about Mr. De winter. From the beginning I greatly disliked him and saw him of a prime example of grooming.
Again, she is 21 and he is 42. He is quite literally double her age.
He showed all those dangerous signs of grooming, like how he selfishly married the lady despite his acknowledgement that she was too young and that she would be unhappy. He knows she could love younger men, but he disregards it out of his own wish to marry her.
How he didn't want a wedding because *he* had had one, selfishly ignoring that the lady might want one.
Their marriage felt more or less like Maxim bought the lady's companionship off of Mrs. Van hopper. Like he heard that one can buy companionship and thought he might do it himself.
These were my thoughts at their marriage and now looking back on it, after reading the afterword, it rings truer than I thought.
Maxim continues on being an awful husband. Infantilizing her in every waking moment, not helping her in any way. He bascially drops her off at manderely left to her own devices. He doesn't help her adjust in the slightest, instead treats her like a pet (herself feeling so), leaves her out of everything and barely talks to her.
After the reveal that he did NOT love rebecca and truly "loves" the lady, it all turns over. Both the lady's relief and my own relief shadowed his previous behaviors, after all i wanted her to be happy. Yet i was not quite happy and now I think my first assessment of him may not have been so wrong.
He may have not loved Rebecca, but does it make him any less of a groomer and bad husband?
Now to Mrs. De winter.
We don't know her name, of course. I feel like there's little to add to the analysis of her in the afterword.
I certainly liked living in her world. I would never live and be like her, but I enjoyed her. Woefully daydreaming, about pretty much everything. Her obsession with Rebecca.
She also got over herself enough to not make her passiveness aggravating. E.g. talking to Frank, coming down to the ball.
Rebecca was... well she was Rebecca.
The writing was very beautiful.
All in all it was a page turning mystery i quite enjoyed.
It just lacked *something* for me.
haylesy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
keithy23's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
gvstyris's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I wondered how many people there were in the world who suffered, and continued to suffer, because they could not break out from their own web of shyness and reserve, and in their blindness and folly built up a great distorted wall in front of them that hid the truth.
Very unsure about how to rate this book. Rebecca has been on my mental TBR for years, primarily because of its enduring influence on other media I love (Gone Girl, even various Taylor Swift songs hahah), so my expectations were probably unfairly high.
And, in many ways, they were met. I loved the Gothic setting and eerie tone, as well as the slow build of tension -- although I totally get where it'll bug other readers, given how long it takes to reach any action. Manderley is almost a character in-and-of-itself, which was super compelling, and du Maurier's prose really is gorgeous. I also really admired the shift in the narrator's voice throughout the novel as she lost her youthful naivety and grew into her role of 'Mrs de Winter.'
Docking my rating over a couple things. I'm pretty unobservant and honestly really bad at guessing plot twists, but even I didn't find the main reveals in this novel particularly shocking or compelling. That's probably in part because Rebecca helped pioneer specific thriller tropes, and has influenced many more creative thrillers, but it still made for an underwhelming conclusion. I'm also not sure how I feel about the social commentary of the main reveals... Maxim comes across a bit too favourably in the end, and Rebecca a bit cartoonish. It definitely reminded me a bit of my misogynistic undertone qualms with Gone Girl.
I am glad it cannot happen twice, the fever of first love. For it is a fever, and a burden, too, whatever the poets may say.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Incest and Classism
Minor: Cancer, Terminal illness, Infertility, and Suicide
lddecker's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
_reni's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
sparkin's review against another edition
5.0
This book is exhausting. I mean that as the highest possible compliment. It doesn't release its grip around your throat until the very last page- it's dark, complex and morally murky, and it's going to be percolating around in my brain for a very long time.
chloegrace's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5