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3.28 AVERAGE
3.28 AVERAGE
I rather surprised myself when I ended up enjoying this book. As far as I could tell it was going to be everything I hated; too much description, twelve words when one would do and a rather pathetic heroine. Which of course might make you wonder why I even bothered to pick it up.....the main reason was that it's mentioned in Northanger Abbey and also it's a classic of its gothic genre. And yes, it's highly descriptive and way too wordy, though the heroine wasn't quite as feeble as I was envisioning, despite the multiple fainting episodes. But I got caught up in the story, I wanted to know who would survive and how the rescue would happen and what would happen to the money.
I took me a couple chapters to acclimatize to the writing. I had to do a little rereading before I started to absorb the story. I will also admit that I skimmed through most of the scenery descriptions, I can't envision the setting through words anyway so it is always a bit lost on me.
I did end up really liking all the creepy guys in the story. Montori is greedy and unscrupulous, Count Morano is a super disturbing stalker type and and DuPont, Bertolini & Verezzi are quite the variety of sub par good or bad guys. To my surprise, the hero Valancourt was the pathetic one. Why she ever liked him....
I would definitely say that it must be read with a view to admiring the absurd and enjoying the genre for the fantastic melodrama it is.
I took me a couple chapters to acclimatize to the writing. I had to do a little rereading before I started to absorb the story. I will also admit that I skimmed through most of the scenery descriptions, I can't envision the setting through words anyway so it is always a bit lost on me.
I did end up really liking all the creepy guys in the story. Montori is greedy and unscrupulous, Count Morano is a super disturbing stalker type and and DuPont, Bertolini & Verezzi are quite the variety of sub par good or bad guys. To my surprise, the hero Valancourt was the pathetic one. Why she ever liked him....
I would definitely say that it must be read with a view to admiring the absurd and enjoying the genre for the fantastic melodrama it is.
mysterious
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
I lost patience after hundreds of pages of landscape descriptions and one for hr most passive and flat female characters ever written. There were random bits of mystery and silliness, but they didn’t amount to anything after I read hundreds of pages. I gave up trying to find out the actual interesting parts of mystery the book was setting up. If you like reading about an old man taking forever to die, and a young woman who faints approximately 42 times per day, well, this is the novel for you! Did not finish, and I never care to!
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Death of parent
This is such fun! A very over-the-top but entirely entertaining story, and it's given me an entirely new avenue of thinking about Jane Austen, which is always a treat.