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rainynook's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I listened to the audiobook of this collection of stories by Dame Daphne du Maurier. I had long ago seen the film of "Don't Look Now" and I adore the book, "Rebecca" so I was eager to read more work by this writer. This review contains slight spoilers, but I've tried to be careful not to reveal too much.
The book is a series of 5 short stories.
The first story, "Don't Look Now" (4.5 stars) is really good, my favorite of the whole collection. I love Venice and stories about Venice, so this one, with DdM's characteristic slow build of tension, until you are right there with the protagonist, struggling & trapped & more than a little worried, not unlike a spider's prey in a web. When she's good at this trick, she's very, very good. Loved the reader for this one, Michael Sinclair.
"Not After Midnight" was initially compelling, but it got pretty weird, and I didn't buy the ending.
"A Border-Line Case". Normally, I'm delighted with the audiobook work of Katherine Kellgren, but for this (and for the subsequent story, "The Way of the Cross") her voice did not work as it had too much of the comedic edge which she puts to good use in other works. The story had some good elements, and the ending was good, but I saw it coming.
"The Way of the Cross" was not my cup of tea. I couldn't wait for it to end.
The final story in the compilation, "The Breakthrough" was good, but nothing special. However, of the 5 stories, this one, and "Don't Look Now" were the only ones I thought worth listening to, although "Don't Look Now" is far and away the best of the lot.
The book is a series of 5 short stories.
The first story, "Don't Look Now" (4.5 stars) is really good, my favorite of the whole collection. I love Venice and stories about Venice, so this one, with DdM's characteristic slow build of tension, until you are right there with the protagonist, struggling & trapped & more than a little worried, not unlike a spider's prey in a web. When she's good at this trick, she's very, very good. Loved the reader for this one, Michael Sinclair.
"Not After Midnight" was initially compelling, but it got pretty weird, and I didn't buy the ending.
"A Border-Line Case". Normally, I'm delighted with the audiobook work of Katherine Kellgren, but for this (and for the subsequent story, "The Way of the Cross") her voice did not work as it had too much of the comedic edge which she puts to good use in other works. The story had some good elements, and the ending was good, but I saw it coming.
"The Way of the Cross" was not my cup of tea. I couldn't wait for it to end.
The final story in the compilation, "The Breakthrough" was good, but nothing special. However, of the 5 stories, this one, and "Don't Look Now" were the only ones I thought worth listening to, although "Don't Look Now" is far and away the best of the lot.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Murder, Infidelity, Child death, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Terminal illness, Medical content, Confinement, Homophobia, and Violence
lunabri's review
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
2.0
the first short-story "Don't look now" was very intriguing and atmospheric and kept me glued to the pages until the end.
Unfortunately all the other stories in this collection bored me to death and even annoyed me at times
Unfortunately all the other stories in this collection bored me to death and even annoyed me at times
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Grief, Homophobia, and Child death
abbie_'s review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
2.0
Honestly so disappointed in this collection from Daphne 😠it’s been ages since I read one of her works and the amount of casual offensive remarks in these stories is ridiculous. Racism, ableism, homophobia, misogyny, transphobia… it’s hard to tell whether the characters have these views when it’s just woven casually into the narration. In the first story, a rabid murderer turns out to be a woman with dwarfism, a deaf woman is another villain, a woman suspects a group of men may be gay and is immediately outraged and disgusted. I know, ‘a different time’ but that’s no excuse.
Only two stars because Not After Midnight was pretty good, some decent tension built. Otherwise *raspberry noise*.
*didn’t read The Breakthrough as I’ve read this previously so my comments don’t pertain to that story!
Only two stars because Not After Midnight was pretty good, some decent tension built. Otherwise *raspberry noise*.
*didn’t read The Breakthrough as I’ve read this previously so my comments don’t pertain to that story!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Ableism, Transphobia, and Racism
vithelovers's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-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
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Child death, Blood, Death, Murder, and Transphobia
ina_loves_books's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Cancer, Cursing, Death of parent, Excrement, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Racial slurs, and Murder
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