Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

80 reviews

cady_sass's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

*mentally prepares self to be cancelled*

Did we all read the same book? It takes reading literally 70% of the book before anything interesting happens at all, and once it gets going it’s fully underwhelming. It’s soooooo long and for what purpose? Wikipedia managed to summarize the entirety of the major plot points in 7 paragraphs and, frankly, that’s more than enough. Just because something was written nearly 100 years ago with arguably beautiful prose does not make it inherently good or a classic. The writing is excellent and for that you get 2 stars, but let’s not glorify a novel that lacked proper editing and meandering plot for 300+ pages. Also, what is the purpose of never naming the main character? Let the woman have a name! Okay, rant over. Sorry not sorry 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

sennaje's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

clairew97's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

laurataylor's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

magellen's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

Whenever I read this book I'm just like dang did the ADHD/autistic girlies in 1938 feel seen.

Oh poor sweet HELLA adhd Mrs. DeWinter - it is so deeply amusing to read this book, with her being "embarrassed for them because they didn't have the sense to" and her intense rejection sensitivity disorder and all her wild conjectures and anxiety.
This is such a fantastic book in the gothic catalogue and a classic of twisty overlapping story. Its ableist and racist in places in line with shitty white moneyed people of the era. 
Young wife, husband twice her age, giant estate and a malicious housekeeper. Lots of secrets. Lots of miscommunication haha

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Death, Infidelity, and Grief

Minor: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Racism, Suicide, and Murder

neptunereign's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Incest, Infidelity, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Alcoholism, Cursing, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Dementia, and Injury/Injury detail

ambermarshall's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.75

Poor nameless protagonist, I really identify with her. Painfully shy, deeply insecure, eager to please, huge inferiority complex, incredibly vivid imagination especially for worst-case scenarios. I feel like I would have been the same at that age in that situation.

It starts off slowly but so richly described that it drew me right in, and then in the second half it gripped me tightly and pulled me along. So much is revealed that casts earlier parts in a new light, and I found myself flipping back and forth and rereading earlier passages. The mystery and suspense were excellent, and romance took a back seat (it was all rather chaste as far as romance goes). It ends rather abruptly but I read a little more of the beginning again (which takes place after the events of the book) and it can act as a sort of epilogue as well as prologue, and you get a different reading from it after reading the entire novel.

I confess I had taken the "haunted by Rebecca" literally until I actually read the book and realized there was nothing supernatural going on and it was a metaphorical haunting, which honestly works so well and much better than a literal haunting would have. It just speaks to how huge a personality Rebecca was and how she managed to get so many people in her thrall with her sociopathic wiles to the point that she has so much power over everything even after her death, especially through Mrs. Danvers as her mortal agent.

I do wonder if the beginning might serve better at the end, since it takes away a little bit of the suspense to know that MC and Maxim are away and safe after everything, though I did wonder if maybe they were on the lam.

Overall, I'm hugely impressed. A masterpiece indeed.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Bullying, Cancer, Death, Infidelity, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, and Cultural appropriation

rory_john14's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Death, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Incest, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, and Alcohol

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

eveilie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I'd advise readers to remember that Rebecca is a capital-R Romantic book. It's also gothic, and I think people overlook that. I don't think it's a book most people like the first time around, but that's the way of gothic literature. It requires a second read to fully understand what the book is about. In Rebecca, it's the characters and how you're supposed to feel about them that makes you need to re-read the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Incest, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Gun violence and Suicide

This book is set in 1930s England. There's some mention of husbands abusing their wives, though nobody in the book is physically abused themselves. There is a discussion of gun use in relation to murder, though it is minor. One character can be seen as obsessive.

oceanwriter's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

For some reason, I never wrote a review for this book when I first read it in 2016... not uncommon at this point in my life but I've been regarding it as one of my all-time favorite books since then. Nothing has changed the second time around. I opted to listen to the audiobook this time. Initially, I just wanted a comfort read to help me fall asleep. That didn't work so much. I was only reminded how much I love this story. There's so much I identify with and the suspense is unmatched. 

What gets me most with the book is the narration. We never learn the second Mrs. de Winter's name, and yet, it's so intimate with her every thought and emotion surrounding each event. We watch from grow from a shy and timid companion to a strong and unabashed wife of a tormented widow. Then of course there's Mrs. Danvers who is perhaps my favorite antagonist of all-time — book, stage, or screen. Her presence is as haunting as Rebecca's memory, and yet there is something so human about her that you can't help but sympathize. 

Between the original film and the two subsequent mini-series (as well as a musical), I have almost every bit of this story memorized and still the twists hold up. The tension continues to build up to the very end. Listening to it on audiobook made it a new experience with an old friend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, and Murder

Moderate: Cancer, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Grief

Minor: Incest