3vi333's review against another edition
5.0
this book was incredible and claustrophobic and haunting. beautifully written and completely thrilling, the ending left me shaken up. below are just a few sections i ended up highlighting and coming back to:
What was not happening between us had a presence of its own.
*
Talking about what he knew - meat - seemed to relax him. I wondered if he was entirely serious or whether this butchery chat was a way of dealing with his shyness. Either way, Alexander could not disguise a hopeful look: the introvert's pleasure at the prospect of being drawn out.
*
Still I waited – there was the faintest ripple of glass as the wind charged by – and only slowly did I realise: the sound of his watch was in fact my watch, with its cheap mechanism; the sound of his breathing was really my own lazy breath, the heartbeat belonged to my body. This room now seemed to shrink, closing in until it was as small as a room in my head. He had been here, and now he was not. Turning off the lights, Alexander had disappeared, leaving me to lie alone in the pure dark.
*
Old houses make me self-conscious. I knew no one could see me, but somewhere there were eyes. I made the bed, straightening the frayed satin edge of the blanket, plumping up the vintage pillow – admiring the frugality of rich people – and I did these things as though a camera were embedded in the ceiling’s cornice.
Everything now was performative: I was brushing my hair, dressing neatly. Then I was closing the door quietly behind me and walking down the grand staircase, through the house’s formal area to the servants’ quarters.
*
...how close a nightmare can be to an exquisite dream. I almost wished I was not so filled with horror.
What was not happening between us had a presence of its own.
*
Talking about what he knew - meat - seemed to relax him. I wondered if he was entirely serious or whether this butchery chat was a way of dealing with his shyness. Either way, Alexander could not disguise a hopeful look: the introvert's pleasure at the prospect of being drawn out.
*
Still I waited – there was the faintest ripple of glass as the wind charged by – and only slowly did I realise: the sound of his watch was in fact my watch, with its cheap mechanism; the sound of his breathing was really my own lazy breath, the heartbeat belonged to my body. This room now seemed to shrink, closing in until it was as small as a room in my head. He had been here, and now he was not. Turning off the lights, Alexander had disappeared, leaving me to lie alone in the pure dark.
*
Old houses make me self-conscious. I knew no one could see me, but somewhere there were eyes. I made the bed, straightening the frayed satin edge of the blanket, plumping up the vintage pillow – admiring the frugality of rich people – and I did these things as though a camera were embedded in the ceiling’s cornice.
Everything now was performative: I was brushing my hair, dressing neatly. Then I was closing the door quietly behind me and walking down the grand staircase, through the house’s formal area to the servants’ quarters.
*
...how close a nightmare can be to an exquisite dream. I almost wished I was not so filled with horror.
hannahbanks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
limeywesty's review against another edition
2.0
This book was compelling, unsettling and like the Australian Get Reading sticker suggests, I could not put it down. Having said that, I'm still not sure if I'm entirely convinced by the premise. Or maybe it was my narrator that wasn't utterly convincing. I can't say I liked this but the high level of intrigue surrounding it got to me. That, and Jennifer Byrne.
samiac's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
elizaeliza's review against another edition
2.0
Other people who dislike this book criticise it for being confusing and having unlikable characters but for me that wasn't the thing, it was just dumb. It left me with two buckets of 'what a strange world view' and three buckets of 'I don't care'.
vkjansezian's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
kyliecardell's review against another edition
I just didn't really get into this book, and I couldn't be convinced by its premise. There was a real potential for it to be a quite creepy and gothic story, but it doesn't deliver. The characters are (surprisingly, given the unusual context of their relationship) boring and unengaging. We never really learn enough about either of the central protagonists (or maybe we learn too much?) to feel interested in their self-interested self-delusions and the central plot twist is just not convincing. I really thoroughly enjoyed Hooper's nonfiction book The Tall Man and this is my first foray into her fiction. I hear Child's Book of True Crime is very good. I don't know that I'll be rushing off to find out.
lefa's review against another edition
4.0
Gosh I enjoyed this book. Unsettling, unable to be put down. I read it in one sitting. It blew my mind to find that Hooper's fiction is as impressive as her non-fiction.
andrew61's review
3.0
I am trying, while the libraries are shut to read from a stack of books I have piled up and forgotten. I'm not sure when I picked this up and on reading the blurb I wasn't sure why it had grabbed me which seemed reinforced as I started the first chapter and it seemed dominated by Liese, an estate agent, sexual encounters with a man she is showing around Melbourne flats and houses in the property she is supposed to be showing. Somehow the assumption is that Alexander pays her and Liese accepts this to pay of debts she had accrued back home in England. As Liese plans to fly back to England Alexander invites her, for a large sum of money to stay a weekend at his Bush farm holding which includes a large family home occupied only by alexander although still with his families traces throughout.
This short book then rapidly changes from what seems a light sexual romp into something more sinister but what took it beyond routine psychological thrillers was that by the end as a reader I didn't know who was the villain, if indeed there was a villain. Liese is either a very unreliable narrator and Alexander a very creepy maniac who is going to keep her locked away, or Liese is a very damaged woman with a history that has come back to hurt her.
A quick read which left plenty of questions at the end but not in a unsatisfactory manner.
This short book then rapidly changes from what seems a light sexual romp into something more sinister but what took it beyond routine psychological thrillers was that by the end as a reader I didn't know who was the villain, if indeed there was a villain. Liese is either a very unreliable narrator and Alexander a very creepy maniac who is going to keep her locked away, or Liese is a very damaged woman with a history that has come back to hurt her.
A quick read which left plenty of questions at the end but not in a unsatisfactory manner.