hannahcg's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
4.25
charlotte_owl's review
5.0
This book was very long, but it was very interesting! I found it extremely engaging, and I was eagerly waiting to see what was next. If you like Victorian literature and mysteries, I would really recommend this book! You get very attached to the characters.
ury949's review
2.0
Woof, that was long. I listened to the audio book, but am still amused by the number of times the current narrator said, "I made my note as brief as humanly possible," or, "I did not waste any time in writing the following two lines to convey my instructions." Further amusing were the, "I copy her letter here, word for word, without any revisions," and especially the scene in which the Count writes his narrative, while Walter Hartright observes him pass page after page, "...in the fifties; hundreds..." hour after hour. It was a satisfying summery of the whole book, really, his long-winded, no-details-spared narrative.
What I'm trying to say is, there are a lot of words here, to tell the story of a conspiracy that's kind of disappointing. Disappointing because, as the reader can pull out the obvious courses of action, Sir Percival Glyde was a dim-witted idiot. I guess that's the point.
The book has great characters, but you really have to get over the dated way Marion over and over belittles her and all women's abilities: women naturally cannot draw or do art; had she been a man she'd have knocked him in the face; had she been a man she would have grabbed the finest horse and gone riding at night. This really bugs me; I just couldn't get over how even the strong woman character was just a weak woman and didn't even think differently in her own head, it made me hate the whole book, and I guess I should be aware of that whenever I read books written in the 1800's.
The best part of the whole book and it's only redeeming part was the narrative of Mr. Fairlie - the sickly old man who only wants ever to be left alone in his misery and has zero social skills and huge misgivings of his class and the "intellectually lacking" people, and his opinion of "the youth" - his dialogue made me laugh out loud it was so funny. Every scene with him in it I adored and perhaps one could even just read his short contribution to the story and be entertained. In fact, I kind of wish that is what i'd done, but I stuck with it and am ready to move on to my next book.
What I'm trying to say is, there are a lot of words here, to tell the story of a conspiracy that's kind of disappointing. Disappointing because, as the reader can pull out the obvious courses of action, Sir Percival Glyde was a dim-witted idiot. I guess that's the point.
The book has great characters, but you really have to get over the dated way Marion over and over belittles her and all women's abilities: women naturally cannot draw or do art; had she been a man she'd have knocked him in the face; had she been a man she would have grabbed the finest horse and gone riding at night. This really bugs me; I just couldn't get over how even the strong woman character was just a weak woman and didn't even think differently in her own head, it made me hate the whole book, and I guess I should be aware of that whenever I read books written in the 1800's.
The best part of the whole book and it's only redeeming part was the narrative of Mr. Fairlie - the sickly old man who only wants ever to be left alone in his misery and has zero social skills and huge misgivings of his class and the "intellectually lacking" people, and his opinion of "the youth" - his dialogue made me laugh out loud it was so funny. Every scene with him in it I adored and perhaps one could even just read his short contribution to the story and be entertained. In fact, I kind of wish that is what i'd done, but I stuck with it and am ready to move on to my next book.
nickjonesreadsbooks's review against another edition
5.0
Who says that a long Victorian Era novel has to be dry and tedious? While some writers go off on lavish descriptions of the wall paper and drapes, Collins sticks to the point. Every word progresses the labyrinthine plot to its satisfying conclusion. Full of mystery and intrigue until the final page! Highly recommended.
bibliophilelinda's review against another edition
5.0
A richly detailed and well-told piece of classic literature, set in Victorian England, describing the events which occur after poor Walter Hartright helps save the elusive and etheral "woman in white" from a band of man bent on kidnapping her. Through multiple points of view, the subsequent events related to the reader range from love found and lost and found again, betrayal, kidnapping, attempted murder, switched identities, exploratory investigations worthy of Sherlock Holmes, and a secret so dangerous as to ruin the lives of many people. Engaging, sad and at times quite funny....particularly the pernicous personality of Mr. Fairlie. A great read!
spicy_koala's review against another edition
5.0
Wilkie Collins is a master of the plot twist!
The beginning is a bit slow, but don’t let it deter you. The majority of the book is a page-turner. Who knew Victorian family dramas could be so interesting?
The beginning is a bit slow, but don’t let it deter you. The majority of the book is a page-turner. Who knew Victorian family dramas could be so interesting?
ruchi_chanachur's review
4.0
~3.5 stars, rounded up because peer pressure. Also warning, a dog dies.
I finally finished it! After two weeks. This book is really slow. I wouldn’t recommend reading when you’re in a reading slump, are falling into a reading slump, or are coming out of a reading slump.
Starting with the writing. Some people attribute- and they may be correct in doing so- that the writing is one of the reasons that this book is so slow. It is Victorian writing, of which examples I will not be providing, that is too much work. The writing is very heavy and prose-y, and I cannot blame people for not preferring this writing style. That being said- I loved it. Unnecessarily long sentences in longer paragraphs still, sometimes venturing into the rambly or redundant, clock full of details, and filled with a great helping of commas- there are other forms of punctuation, but it’s mostly commas- are my shit. Which you can probably tell by reading up to this point.
The writing may, in fact, be my favourite part of this book. Though the book was slow, with a slow plot, the writing managed to hold my attention and keep me reading, without feeling the almost stagnant process in this book. But enough about the writing, onto the pacing.
As mentioned many times, the pacing is slow, and the book is consistent in that regard, except near the end when everything is a bit rushed.
The plot is rather slow, and really, I can’t call this book a thriller. It’s not a thrilling story. And while it is a mystery, most of the book is Victorian melodrama (it does connect to the mystery but still). While this is not so bad- I am the type of person who finds drama entertaining, and Victorian drama is infinitely better than contemporary drama- I do wish that more of the book was actively about the mystery.
Something that happens a lot in this book is that after important discoveries it goes back the melodrama. The important events are relatively spread out, which I have mixed feelings about. On one hand, this made the book slow and almost tedious to read. On the other hand, it makes the mystery more plausible. I mean, it’s unlikely that all the important events relating to a marriage scheme will take place in a week or a few identifiable days.
The mystery was a decent one, and I felt some intrigue over it. Anne’s (the woman in white, her name is revealed early on) big secret was a bit anti-climatic. The ending was a bit disappointing in that it didn’t quite hold up to what was promised. I must admit that while Anne’s secret wasn’t really shocking to me (especially with my modern sensibilities) it didn’t go in the direction that I thought it would, so I was pleasantly surprised.
Onto the characters. This will be short. They are:
- Walter Hartright. He was okay. I wanted him to succeed, but I questioned him and some of his actions.
-Marian Halcombe. I would have liked her had she not declared that she hated other women (except Laura). As of now, my feelings are very confused. She has a decent personality, and she is one of the characters most prevalent in the book.
-Laura Farlie. While I didn’t dislike her, I didn’t like her. I don’t understand why Walter and Marian care so much about her, outside of being pretty. Despite being the central focus I can’t seem to understand her personality. I find her boring, and quite frankly, useless. Also after (unspecified event), she essentially becomes a child. Why?
-Sir Pervical. Think that’s how you spell it. Hate him. He’s the type of person to beat dogs.
-Count Fosco and Madame Fosco. Hate them too. No more details.
-Anne Catherick. Despite the book being titled after her, she isn’t really present, so I don’t have any feelings toward her except pity.
Now there is some problematic stuff, like sexism (or when Miss Halcombe is described as being ugly for having a darker complexion). However, this was written in 1859, so I can overlook it, and it isn’t so bad.
TLDR: Loved the writing, plot was slow, characters were confusing.
I finally finished it! After two weeks. This book is really slow. I wouldn’t recommend reading when you’re in a reading slump, are falling into a reading slump, or are coming out of a reading slump.
Starting with the writing. Some people attribute- and they may be correct in doing so- that the writing is one of the reasons that this book is so slow. It is Victorian writing, of which examples I will not be providing, that is too much work. The writing is very heavy and prose-y, and I cannot blame people for not preferring this writing style. That being said- I loved it. Unnecessarily long sentences in longer paragraphs still, sometimes venturing into the rambly or redundant, clock full of details, and filled with a great helping of commas- there are other forms of punctuation, but it’s mostly commas- are my shit. Which you can probably tell by reading up to this point.
The writing may, in fact, be my favourite part of this book. Though the book was slow, with a slow plot, the writing managed to hold my attention and keep me reading, without feeling the almost stagnant process in this book. But enough about the writing, onto the pacing.
As mentioned many times, the pacing is slow, and the book is consistent in that regard, except near the end when everything is a bit rushed.
The plot is rather slow, and really, I can’t call this book a thriller. It’s not a thrilling story. And while it is a mystery, most of the book is Victorian melodrama (it does connect to the mystery but still). While this is not so bad- I am the type of person who finds drama entertaining, and Victorian drama is infinitely better than contemporary drama- I do wish that more of the book was actively about the mystery.
Something that happens a lot in this book is that after important discoveries it goes back the melodrama. The important events are relatively spread out, which I have mixed feelings about. On one hand, this made the book slow and almost tedious to read. On the other hand, it makes the mystery more plausible. I mean, it’s unlikely that all the important events relating to a marriage scheme will take place in a week or a few identifiable days.
The mystery was a decent one, and I felt some intrigue over it. Anne’s (the woman in white, her name is revealed early on) big secret was a bit anti-climatic. The ending was a bit disappointing in that it didn’t quite hold up to what was promised. I must admit that while Anne’s secret wasn’t really shocking to me (especially with my modern sensibilities) it didn’t go in the direction that I thought it would, so I was pleasantly surprised.
Onto the characters. This will be short. They are:
- Walter Hartright. He was okay. I wanted him to succeed, but I questioned him and some of his actions.
-Marian Halcombe. I would have liked her had she not declared that she hated other women (except Laura). As of now, my feelings are very confused. She has a decent personality, and she is one of the characters most prevalent in the book.
-Laura Farlie. While I didn’t dislike her, I didn’t like her. I don’t understand why Walter and Marian care so much about her, outside of being pretty. Despite being the central focus I can’t seem to understand her personality. I find her boring, and quite frankly, useless. Also after (unspecified event), she essentially becomes a child. Why?
-Sir Pervical. Think that’s how you spell it. Hate him. He’s the type of person to beat dogs.
-Count Fosco and Madame Fosco. Hate them too. No more details.
-Anne Catherick. Despite the book being titled after her, she isn’t really present, so I don’t have any feelings toward her except pity.
Now there is some problematic stuff, like sexism (or when Miss Halcombe is described as being ugly for having a darker complexion). However, this was written in 1859, so I can overlook it, and it isn’t so bad.
TLDR: Loved the writing, plot was slow, characters were confusing.
georgiasummer98's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness and Confinement
kany713's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0