Reviews

The Italian or the Confessional of the Black Penitents by Ann Radcliffe

socorrobaptista's review against another edition

4.0

Semelhante a um conto de fadas, com amores impossíveis, muitos desencontros e sofrimentos, com alguns toques de mistério, a história de Vivaldi e Elena nos comove e nos encanta. Vale a pena voltar um pouco aos clássicos, e fugir, por algum tempo, da crua realidade em que nos encontramos.

alysian_fields's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

4.0

mollyxmiller's review against another edition

4.0

A particularly good read if you are interested in early novels, Gothic Romance, and evil monks.

toriauricht's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

tanilian's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious slow-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

2.25

alrautio's review against another edition

2.0

Had to read this for class.... never again. Almost as much of a drag as "Mrs. Dalloway" to get through. There is so much unnecessary discourse, I actually screamed several times. There are so many irritating characters, I'll be honest, I skipped entire sections that they were in. There is nothing--I repeat, NOTHING--more infuriating than a bad storyteller, and given that this entire book is essentially hearsay from one character to another (concerning stupid plans, unnecessarily convoluted and yet sadly predictable plots, and the general inability to be honest which would literally just have solved everything from the start), there is a metric s**t ton of dialogue and there are only two characters than can speak in any way that can even loosely be called "coherent" and "concise".

I couldn't help but feel the majority of this book was like... pointless? Maybe I just don't get it. I adored "The Monk", and "The Italian" was supposed to be a response to it, so perhaps it's fitting that my adoration of the former is met with disdain in equal measure for the latter. This book took me a month to get through. I don't think I've ever taken this long to read a book... ever. I wanted to like it. Alas... nay. It's frivolous drama with an unfortunately awesome setting. My favourite parts were descriptions of the gloom. If the entire book had the people and plots removed and had only the aesthetic, it would have been a vast improvement.

evak's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

laby's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-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

3.0

This book could have easily been 100 pages shorter. The plot twists and the ending were predictable since page one. Having said that, this remains a great example of gothic literature, it presents so many elements that have now become a classic in the genre. 

saralynnburnett's review against another edition

5.0

A gothic romance: long, beautifully written and one of my favorite types of books to read. I am always sad when books this good have to end.

evthomo's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense

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

3.75