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wslockard 's review for:
Black Rabbit Hall
by Eve Chase
I'm glad I finished this book. Yes, it has bad writing, but the plot isn't bad, inbetween the totally pointless prologue and epilogue. Honestly. I have never in my life seen a prologue or epilogue like the ones in this book. The book is fine without them. I have never felt so cheated. Luckily only about 5 minutes of my life have been lost. The prologue & epilogue are short.
Overdone themes: perfect mother, the "twin" thing, "evil" step-mother . . .
Bad writing: I read a previous review of this book that absolutely skewers the bad writing. For instance, the protagonist's boyfriend is supposed to be irresistible, but on what planet? He smells like "sex and digestive biscuits" and is "built like a hammer"? What does this even mean, right? But I powered through anyway.
I got to enjoy some other weird phrases, like how sunlight "waffles the floor beneath the folds in the curtain." Um, I did not know that "waffle" was a verb in that manner, i.e. "to make something look like a waffle," I guess?
But on the other hand, some nice turns of phrase also appeared. We see a tall, dark love interest, and "the air around him is not still."
Or, on another day, "Tomorrow arrives, flat as a cancelled party." Kinda twee, but not bad.
A little girl describes her step-mother: "She's like a seagull that wants your chips."
And yes, I admit it, this book gets my chips. I was satisfied by the ending. I was SO glad it didn't fully turn into a horror tale. Just enough dark, gory elements to make it realistic, actually. It's possible this book could happen in real life. Impressive.
Overdone themes: perfect mother, the "twin" thing, "evil" step-mother . . .
Bad writing: I read a previous review of this book that absolutely skewers the bad writing. For instance, the protagonist's boyfriend is supposed to be irresistible, but on what planet? He smells like "sex and digestive biscuits" and is "built like a hammer"? What does this even mean, right? But I powered through anyway.
I got to enjoy some other weird phrases, like how sunlight "waffles the floor beneath the folds in the curtain." Um, I did not know that "waffle" was a verb in that manner, i.e. "to make something look like a waffle," I guess?
But on the other hand, some nice turns of phrase also appeared. We see a tall, dark love interest, and "the air around him is not still."
Or, on another day, "Tomorrow arrives, flat as a cancelled party." Kinda twee, but not bad.
A little girl describes her step-mother: "She's like a seagull that wants your chips."
And yes, I admit it, this book gets my chips. I was satisfied by the ending. I was SO glad it didn't fully turn into a horror tale. Just enough dark, gory elements to make it realistic, actually. It's possible this book could happen in real life. Impressive.