Reviews

Ο γιατρός Φάραντεϊ καλείται στο Χάντρεντς -μια έπαυλη σχεδόν υπό κατάρρευση- διότι μια υπηρέτρια αρρώστησε και ως γνωστόν όταν αρρωσταίνει το υπηρετικό προσωπικό πάντα φωνάζεις γιατρό και δεν δείχνεις αδιαφορία. Μετά την επίσκεψη του γοητεύεται από το επιβλητικό σπίτι αλλά και τους ενοίκους του και προσπαθεί να δημιουργήσει φιλίες με την οικογένεια Έιρς και έτσι θα βρίσκει λόγους να ξανά επιστρέφει στην έπαυλη. Δεν θα είναι ο μόνος λόγος βέβαια για τις επισκέψεις, διότι σιγά σιγά αναπτύσσει ερωτικό ενδιαφέρον για την Καρολάιν, την κόρη της οικογένειας. Η εμπιστοσύνη που του δείχνει θα γίνει αφορμή για να του εκμυστηρευτεί τα ‘’προβλήματα’’ που δημιουργούνται με την οικογένεια της, αλλα και με την έπαυλη, έτσι κι αλλιώς ο γιατρός ξέρει τι φήμες κυκλοφορούν. Λέγεται ότι το Χάντρεντς είναι στοιχειωμένο και ότι είναι ζωντανό, μπορεί ανά πάσα στιγμή να ξυπνήσει.

Αν ψάχνετε ένα βιβλίο τρόμου, τότε αυτό το βιβλίο δεν είναι αυτό το ψάχνετε. Το μόνο που θυμίζει βιβλίο τρόμου είναι η γοτθική ατμόσφαιρα, κάποιες ανατριχίλες που εμφανίζονται κατά διαστήματα και λιγο πριν το τέλος του βιβλίου, το υπερφυσικό κομμάτι. Κατά τ' άλλα είναι ένα βιβλίο που εστιάζεται κυρίως στους πρωταγωνιστές, στα μέλη της οικογένειας Έιρ που δίνουν αρκετή σημασία στο κοινωνικό τους κύρος και ανησυχούν μήπως το χάσουν τελείως και στο γιατρός που προσπαθεί απελπισμένα να συγγενέψει με την οικογένεια και να γίνει μέρος της αριστοκρατίας, μιας που εκείνος είναι σε κατώτερη θέση κοινωνικά.

Με κράτησε για την ατμόσφαιρα κυρίως, αλλά αν είχε 100 σελίδες λιγότερες θα ήταν ακόμα καλύτερο. Θα το πρότεινα να διαβαστεί φθινόπωρο ή χειμώνα που θα ταιριάζει με τον μουντό καιρό!

casper2769's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

michaelpdonley's review

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4.0

I really love Waters' writing. This is a slow build, but I enjoyed the journey. Waters' crisp sentences and descriptions are delicious. Not a terribly satisfying book, but very intriguing.

retbot's review against another edition

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cannot stand the narrator character

burningupasun's review

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3.0

Honestly I don't quite know how to feel about this book. I got it on a whim at the library when I had the urge to read a nice creepy ghost story and found it on a list via google. Unfortunately the focus of this book was more like 85-90% the characters (especially the main character) and maybe 10-15% the actual "ghost" stuff. Which may or may not have been a ghost at all. I think my problem is more that it wasn't exactly what I was looking for. If you're wanting to read a creepy haunted house book, this probably isn't the book for you. However, if you want to read something more psychological, something more about the characters, with a heavier focus on "is this all in their heads" than an actual haunting, maybe you would enjoy this more.

That is, if you can stand the main character. I certainly couldn't. He's a prime example of why I normally don't read books with male main characters; he was insufferable, selfish, inconsiderate, pushy, and more. I absolutely abhorred the way he treated Caroline, as if she had no free will of her own, like she was a child or a chess piece. Though I suppose in the end, that was rather the point. Or at least, the ending in how I choose to see it.

Spoiler

Essentially I think he is the monster of the story. The torment starts when he arrives, and I think he (or perhaps a part of him, since mental illness is clearly an important focus here) tormented the mother and son and then, after Caroline rebuffed him and took away his end-goal/dream (to marry her and have the house for themselves), he killed her.

andreayari's review against another edition

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3.0

A gothic novel, as I am now to understand what that means. Definitely crawled into my subconscious and scared it. Also was very good about creating a sense of not knowing what’s going on. Well written.

eleanor_rose22's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Very well written but just not that engaging and I felt the first 200 pages could have been much more condensed. It felt far too long to hold the suspense of a good ghost story, for me personally, and also just wasn’t my type of era/storyline. I also didn’t really like any of the characters: Dr Faraday is self-righteous and manipulative, Caroline is defined only by her plainness and forthright attitude, I felt so bad for Rod. I suppose it’s technically good and deploys suspense subtly and plays with the contemporary ideas of mental illness/poltergeists well, but I wouldn’t have finished this if I didn’t have to for book club.

Also NO verification on what actually happened wtf, I assume it was all Betty?!? Or was Dr Faraday the destructive ghost all along? So unsatisfying

a_beautiful_soup's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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