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courtneydoss 's review for:
Jamaica Inn
by Daphne du Maurier
I love Daphne du Maurier. My Cousin Rachel and Rebecca were both powerful gut-punchy novels and I went into Jamaica Inn expecting the same sort of thing. Unfortunately, it did not deliver. The story was straightforward, deliciously suspenseful and atmospheric, but without all of the shocking twists and turns that made the aforementioned books so memorable. From someone else, this might have been a five star book, but compared to du Maurier's other work, it falls short. Maybe this is because it was one of her earliest novels, before the success of Rebecca, or perhaps my two favorites of du Maurier's work are flukes, and most of her work is like Jamaica Inn. That remains to be seen, but I am still a devoted du Maurier fan girl, and this book was solid.
Jamaica Inn tells the story of plucky young heroine Mary Yellan who, after her mother dies, moves to the titular inn to live with her vibrant Aunt Patience and Patience's supposedly amazing husband, Joss Merlyn. When Mary arrives, though, she realizes that her preconceptions were flawed. Aunt Patience is no longer the vibrant youth Mary remembers, Joss is hardly the Prince Charming that she expected, and Jamaica Inn is a seedy place that the locals distrust. Mary makes the best of it, but she soon realizes that Jamaica Inn hides a lot of secrets, and none of them are good.
I liked Mary Yellan. She was a tough-as-nails, rebellious, hardcore young woman who didn't back down from anybody. She wasn't taking any of Joss Merlyn's shit, except as much as was required to stay with her Aunt Patience. I liked her romance with Jem, the sort of reluctant way that she fell in love with him, and how charming he was. Sure, he was sexist as hell, as were most of the characters in this book, but he was still attractive in that "bad boy" kind of way.
Despite being a tough girl, Mary made a few dumb decisions, and I saw them coming from a mile away even though it wasn't confirmed until the "grand reveal" toward the end of the book. But predictability doesn't always ruin a book for me. I didn't mind that the ending was predictable, because I enjoyed the journey to get to that point very much. Jamaica Inn's greatest strength is the atmosphere. I love the windswept, desolate moors of the Cornish countryside. It is reminiscent of the Brontes, who of course I love as well.
3-stars, although it would be 5-stars from anybody but my beloved Daphne.
Jamaica Inn tells the story of plucky young heroine Mary Yellan who, after her mother dies, moves to the titular inn to live with her vibrant Aunt Patience and Patience's supposedly amazing husband, Joss Merlyn. When Mary arrives, though, she realizes that her preconceptions were flawed. Aunt Patience is no longer the vibrant youth Mary remembers, Joss is hardly the Prince Charming that she expected, and Jamaica Inn is a seedy place that the locals distrust. Mary makes the best of it, but she soon realizes that Jamaica Inn hides a lot of secrets, and none of them are good.
I liked Mary Yellan. She was a tough-as-nails, rebellious, hardcore young woman who didn't back down from anybody. She wasn't taking any of Joss Merlyn's shit, except as much as was required to stay with her Aunt Patience. I liked her romance with Jem, the sort of reluctant way that she fell in love with him, and how charming he was. Sure, he was sexist as hell, as were most of the characters in this book, but he was still attractive in that "bad boy" kind of way.
Despite being a tough girl, Mary made a few dumb decisions, and I saw them coming from a mile away even though it wasn't confirmed until the "grand reveal" toward the end of the book. But predictability doesn't always ruin a book for me. I didn't mind that the ending was predictable, because I enjoyed the journey to get to that point very much. Jamaica Inn's greatest strength is the atmosphere. I love the windswept, desolate moors of the Cornish countryside. It is reminiscent of the Brontes, who of course I love as well.
3-stars, although it would be 5-stars from anybody but my beloved Daphne.