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enzsch 's review for:
The House of Doors
by Tan Twan Eng
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Started off slow but I got really into the plot from part 2. I love the setting of Penang, and specifically, the bits featuring the house of doors. I think this and plotting are two really strong points of Tan Twan Eng as an author (I have a big soft spot for him bc of the Malaysian connection). I really really enjoyed the Garden of Evening Mists and compared to that one, I think this book is weaker, especially when it comes to dialogue, I found some of it felt a little too manufactured and not actually stuff that people would say. I think the cast of characters were also generally less intriguing and the plot points felt more random and less organic. Still though, the plot was great and I had a fun time reading, finishing the last 200 pages on my flight back to KL from Bali. Great vibes for this travel day specifically. I feel conflicted about 3.75. It both feels like underrating and overrating the book, it was generally so strong just the manufactured-ness dragged it down a lot.
I read The Razors Edge in preparation, which I enjoyed, and gonna read the Casuarina Tree because of this book :)
I read The Razors Edge in preparation, which I enjoyed, and gonna read the Casuarina Tree because of this book :)