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A review by boezaaah
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
5.0
Wow. Wow, wow, wow. This was even more incredible than I could ever have expected. I knew going into this that Daphne du Maurier was an incredible writer. A few months back I read a sci-fi short story of hers that I adored, and I had not a single doubt in my mind that she would deliver in the writing department. But wow. Every image du Maurier created was so vivid and stunning, and it captivated me from the first page until the last. The writing is definitely a major factor in me giving this 5 stars.
One of the things that people talk about the most when they review this book is its descriptions of Manderley, and I would have to agree. du Maurier writes Manderley as if it is a character in itself and if it has a personality of its own. Every moment spent in that house feels haunting and thrilling, and even when our protagonist isn't in the building, the presence of Manderley is always there. And the way this book ended with Manderley was very, very symbolic, and so incredibly beautiful.
For a lot of this book, I didn't know what to make of the characters. But ultimately, I came to my conclusions that: Maxim is a dick, Mrs Danvers is insane but she was also a bad bitch, Frank is the sweetest and most loyal and probably my favourite character out of all of them, Favell was a creep, and our main protagonist was naive, inexperienced and to be frank, quite annoying, but there were moments that she switched up and took on a role of authority that I adored. The characterisation in this was incredible, and how well developed each of these characters were is something I have yet to see in any other book.
It did take me a little while to get through this, though clearly from my rating this was not due to me disliking it. I read the first 200 or so pages quite slowly, and then the second half I had read in less than 2 days because of how much I fell in love with it. I knew this would be a 5-star read from the second I picked it up and I'm more than happy that I was not disappointed.
While I can understand why some people think this drags towards the middle, I think for me personally, the last 10 chapters make up for any slowness in the book. I'm not sure what du Maurier was on when she wrote the ending to this book, but Jesus Christ I need to get on that. I really think this book has one of the strongest endings, strongest last lines, of any book I've ever read. It almost brought a tear to my eye.
Please, if you've been wanting to pick this up, now is as good a time as any. Don't let the idea of classics scare you. Rebecca is one of the easiest books to read and I promise you won't regret it. Definitely a new favourite of mine!
One of the things that people talk about the most when they review this book is its descriptions of Manderley, and I would have to agree. du Maurier writes Manderley as if it is a character in itself and if it has a personality of its own. Every moment spent in that house feels haunting and thrilling, and even when our protagonist isn't in the building, the presence of Manderley is always there. And the way this book ended with Manderley was very, very symbolic, and so incredibly beautiful.
For a lot of this book, I didn't know what to make of the characters. But ultimately, I came to my conclusions that: Maxim is a dick, Mrs Danvers is insane but she was also a bad bitch, Frank is the sweetest and most loyal and probably my favourite character out of all of them, Favell was a creep, and our main protagonist was naive, inexperienced and to be frank, quite annoying, but there were moments that she switched up and took on a role of authority that I adored. The characterisation in this was incredible, and how well developed each of these characters were is something I have yet to see in any other book.
It did take me a little while to get through this, though clearly from my rating this was not due to me disliking it. I read the first 200 or so pages quite slowly, and then the second half I had read in less than 2 days because of how much I fell in love with it. I knew this would be a 5-star read from the second I picked it up and I'm more than happy that I was not disappointed.
While I can understand why some people think this drags towards the middle, I think for me personally, the last 10 chapters make up for any slowness in the book. I'm not sure what du Maurier was on when she wrote the ending to this book, but Jesus Christ I need to get on that. I really think this book has one of the strongest endings, strongest last lines, of any book I've ever read. It almost brought a tear to my eye.
Please, if you've been wanting to pick this up, now is as good a time as any. Don't let the idea of classics scare you. Rebecca is one of the easiest books to read and I promise you won't regret it. Definitely a new favourite of mine!