Reviews with content warning for Fire/Fire injury - Rebecca

Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

44 reviews

maeverose's review against another edition

slow-paced

3.75

TL;DR: I have mixed feelings. I like the overall story, the atmosphere, I really enjoyed the first third/half, then it got way too slow, repetitive and boring. This review will be very negative despite my overall feelings. I didn’t hate the book at all I just have more to say about the negatives.

This is the most atmospheric book I’ve ever read, but imo it’s to a fault. I like slow atmospheric books, and I really liked the writing in the beginning, but the long drawn out descriptions started to take away from the scene we were in and it got frustrating. It was obvious at times when it was being used to add suspense, drawing out the scene making you wait for a reveal or conversation to happen. Some people might like that, I found it irritating. Narrator’s daydreams were funny and relatable at first, but again, got to be too excessive and were inserted at times that felt unnecessary or inappropriate. I found myself internally screaming at her to go talk to someone rather than sulk and daydream. The book overall is very slow, not much of the plot happens until the last 20%.

This book is so repetitive. Narrator has a lot of similar conversations and social interactions throughout the book. She has similar daydreams (too many daydreams), repeating thoughts, etc. Another annoying thing is something will happen or be said, and then the characters will talk about or explain the thing that we just saw happen. Sometimes multiple different characters will explain the same thing, so we end up reading about that same event or statement two or more times before we move on.. not to mention all the unnecessary
‘ “Yes,” I said. ’s

I hate Maxim. Of course this book isn’t a romance novel, and it was written over 80 years ago so the misogyny is not at all unexpected, but being as they remain a couple by the end it’s irritating to me. He’s so patronizing and misogynistic towards Narrator from the beginning and it only gets worse later on. Frank had much better chemistry with Narrator, I didn’t feel like Maxim actually liked her at all, we hardly even saw them together. And the fact that he was so much older than her but also liked that she was young and innocent grossed me out.

This book is very ableist, specifically towards people with intellectual disabilities.

On a less critical note (though still negative because it’s depressing), I was surprised how much I related to Narrator with her social difficulties. I think the intention was that she was young and wasn’t used to all the social obligations of being a more well known person, but to me it read very similar to social anxiety or maybe even autism/adhd. She also had pretty intense insecurities and didn’t think very highly of herself (rejection sensitivity?), which honestly made me a bit sad while reading because I related to so much of it.

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brynhayes's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? No

3.5

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bookish_bry's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

The beginning of this book was so very intriguing. I love that the main character never is named and it really emphasizes how she's in the shadow of Rebecca. Rebecca's name is on the cover of the book, but the character we follow never even is named. It's such a great way to tell a story.

This novel was shaping up to be a knock out 5 star, but the plot twist wasn't to my taste.

Max's murder of Rebecca wasn't really... justified enough. Sure. She sucked (according to Max), but our main character probably should have questioned that a bit more. I honestly was disappointed by Rebbeca being framed as the devil incarnated. I think she should have had flaws that were slowly discovered, but it kind of undermines the main character's journey to finding her place in Max's life after Rebecca when she eventually learns it's fine because Max never loved her anyway.

I did like the end and the fact that the epilogue was the beginning. Despite some things not being exactly to my taste, I still loved this book and the writing style was superb even when I didn't like the plot direction.

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bluelizzz's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Чудова книга.

Повільна на початку, але сюжет стрімко розвивається у другій половині та до кінця тримає в напрузі. Не настільки банальна, як може здатися - в історії достатньо моментів, що можуть здивувати.

Перші дві глави плутають нового читача - без вступу починаються описи природи та якогось будинку, що мариться героїні уві сні; в читача кидають іменами ще невідомих персонажів, секундними спогадами про загадкові події, які нас ще чекають, але ніби вже відбулися; словом, все вимазано у товстий шар ностальгії, чужої неприємної ностальгії, коли відчуваєш себе незручно чужим у теплих спогадах незнайомця.

Цей літературний прийом працює на відмінно, бо чепляє своєю дивністю, та "безшовно" поєднує кінець і початок історії (серйозно, після закінчення книжки поверніться на початок і прочитайте перші дві глави знову - ефект вражаючий).

Герої до болю реалістичні, зі своїми тривогами, страхами, недоліками, протягом всієї історії викликають то підозри і антипатію, роздратування до скрипу зубів, то розуміння і співчуття, в чомусь навіть і симпатію.

Авторка так поступово і майстерно розкручує розповідь, що відчуваючи ті чи інші емоції читач навіть не здогадується, що вони цілком навмисно викликані геніальною пані Дафною дю Мор'є. Тільки закривши книгу на останньому рядку пазл складається в повну картину і талант письменниці не викликає питань.

Навіть описи природи, так ненависні мною, мають свій сенс в контексті розвитку історії та відображення внутрішніх переживань головної героїні (безіменної героїні, що теж як виявилось було важливо для поринення в події книги).

Рекомендую до прочитання всім з великим терпінням (вас буде за це винагороджено) та імунітетом до описів природи (рододендрони не те, чим здаються), хто не проти опинитись в голові 20-річної невротички, щоб пережити глибоку сімейну драму та споглядати її внутрішній розвиток (насправді краще, ніж звучить).

Перечитувати не планую, одного разу цілком достатньо; також я не фанатка циклитись на психології та думках гг всю книгу, тому для мене книга тверда 4.0 з 5.0

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ruby_11's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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pkc's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

This book was a legato across the continent and into the English countryside, wrapped in intrigue and mystery. The eponymous Rebecca looms large

without ever making an appearance in physical form

as the second Mrs de Winter navigates her life with the aloof Maxim de Winter of Manderley following a brief romance in the hills and beaches of Monte Carlo. This book has an incredibly layered cast of characters, including the narrator, Maxim, the truly DEVILISH Mrs Danvers, among many others. The plot has twists, turns and more psycho drama than you can imagine. I literally deducted half a star because of pace towards the end, but other than that, it was twisty turny perfection!

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