Reviews with content warning for Incest - Rebecca

I wouldn't necessarily say I enjoyed this so much as I found it interesting - in the sense that I think I'd have liked to have studied it in a literature class. There's a richness to du Maurier's writing that would lend itself to literary analysis. (I still might head over to JSTOR to see what's been written on.) If I'd read this in my early twenties or my teens, I think I would've wanted to interpret the story as a romance. As it is, I currently read the narrator as an impressionable young girl, eager to please, being manipulated by an older man who has power and influence.

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ratnix's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I absolutely loved the question posed throughout the book: "Has Rebecca won?"

Rebecca has won. In fact, she had already won before even her murder took place, even before the nameless heroine meets Max, even before the narrative begins.

Mrs. Danvers is a scion of Rebecca, she is there to continue her influence on Manderley and even she has lost to Rebecca, though she does not see it; her full allegiance to Rebecca has subjected her to a kind of monstrification fuelled by her hate for both the heroine and Max.

Rebecca not only haunts the narrative, she takes full control of it by creating and enhancing the heroine's insecurities, plaguing her with nightmares of Manderley even after the events of the book have taken place [as the first line of the book suggests] and of Rebecca herself, by unintentionally turning Mrs. Danvers into a loyal servant willing to drive the nameless heroine into committing suicide, by haunting Max's reality.

Rebecca's rage at Max's convenient escape from being imprisoned for his crime is seen in the fire of the mansion. You can almost hear her scream Manderley will go down just like I did, but I will always be there

So, yes. Rebecca has won.

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mosreads's review against another edition

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3.0

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meganrina's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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molly_vitlok's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

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