Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Rose House by Arkady Martine

3 reviews

alysbookclub's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.75

This book had me riveted from the beginning, but I can't help but feel let down by the lack of answers at the end - I know that's kind of the point, but I'm still feeling lost without them. I know this is going to be a story that sticks with me for awhile regardless. Utterly haunting. 
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abookwormspov's review against another edition

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

3.75

As someone who is super into building systems, architecture and AI, I loved this conceptually. Overall I was missing something, and I don't quite know what. But still good overall.
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gwenswoons's review against another edition

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

3.5

This was way outside my comfort zone - I’ve ended up reading many of those this year because of the StoryGraph Genre Challenge, which has been really fun! The writing is certainly excellent - I find books in the sci-fi/thriller/horror spectrum not often super poetic and flowery in their language, but this really was. I listened on audio, and after a while, despite  well-done narration, I ended up finding the constant florid language and the cadence of it over the course of the novella a little bit repetitive and exhausting - I had to take sizable breaks from listening, even in such a short book. I would not likely listen to this or similar works again; but I do think that it was very atmospheric and tense in a way that felt unusual and sometimes quite captivating, so if you are a sci-fi or horror reader, I think you might really enjoy it if you’re up for something a little outside the box.
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