Reviews

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

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midgied's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

sarahblovestoread's review against another edition

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5.0

One of my favourite books ever

estherdb's review against another edition

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5.0

4.5 stars. What follows is a rambly review, I might clean it up at some point in time.

Loved the atmosphere, the descriptions, the tension and the character growth (for the main character) in this novel.
I didn't like the main character at first, but for all the right reasons. She was so insecure, awkward, and embarrassing that I kept wanting to grab her by the shoulders and shout at her to get her sh*t together. But the thing is, it felt as though I was supposed to feel this way about her, and it allowed for me to appreciate her growth more.
An element I did like in the protagonist, was her vivid imagination. With every step she takes, she finds herself envisioning so many "what-ifs." I found that remarkably striking and quite recognisable. I've not often come across characters who do this and it was fun to see that part of myself reflected in a fictional character.

Another huge plus for me was the setting. Manderley is this beautiful, yet never fully graspable entity. It is described in great detail (the inside and even more so the nature surrounding it), so that I could perfectly envision it. This in turn practically turned Manderley into a main character itself.

The vibes of this book are impeccable and are responsible for 4 out of the 4.5 stars I'm giving this book. The tension, the mystery, the intrigue... Loved it!

I was quite ambiguous about "women" in this book. This novel was definitely written almost a century ago. Men are the superior beings, even with this novel being dominated by Rebecca, Mrs. Danvers and our nameless narrator.

Spoiler

I was also a bit weirded out by the narrator just simply accepting the fact that her husband had murdered his previous wife. Did she do some bad stuff? Yeah. Was he in his right to kill her? Hell no. Her blind acceptance of him having murdered his wife... Their relationship in general was a bit iffy to me. The age gap, the weird power imbalance, him treating her like a child... It all gave me the ick.

Spoiler

Lastly, if this novel had been writting in the 2000s, there would've been more Rebecca/Mrs. Danvers tension. Mrs. Danvers is in love with Rebecca, and I loved just feeling this radiate through her hatred for the new Mrs. de Winter and Maxim.

Spoiler

I loved the ending. Maxim was getting away with murder without any retribution, the fact that Mrs. Danvers (presumably) set fire to Manderley felt very fitting from her perspective. And it made for a very poetic and fitting ending, in my opinion.