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laurenw22's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder and Xenophobia
dweeks417's review against another edition
I keep trying to like Helen Oyeyemi, and I just don't. The idea of this book is so interesting, but I was so bored reading it.
moonytoast's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Eating disorder, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racism, and Death of parent
oliviatheron's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
ashlandstrange's review against another edition
emotional
sad
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
peachyclaudia's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
1.0
I wanted to like this book, the premise was so intriguing but unfortunately it was a muddled mess. The povs were not differentiated so you didn't realize it had changed until they spoke whose pov you had previously been reading. Subplots weren't finished and that ending was so anticlimactic. If the issue was only with the Silver women; why did Elliot end up affected at the end? It was too much for no explanation.
moiramacfarlane's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
2.0
Ik kwam tot blz. 184 (van de 256) en dacht ineens, blij als dit uit is, dan kan ik lekker een nieuw boek lezen en waarom lees ik dit nog?
Aan het begin was ik nog wel geboeid, er broeide wat, er was een duistere onderlaag en daar bleef het bij. Ik voelde me niet verbonden met de personages, ik vond de schrijfstijl niet geweldig en uiteindelijk interesseerde me het hele verhaal niet meer.
Aan het begin was ik nog wel geboeid, er broeide wat, er was een duistere onderlaag en daar bleef het bij. Ik voelde me niet verbonden met de personages, ik vond de schrijfstijl niet geweldig en uiteindelijk interesseerde me het hele verhaal niet meer.
teresatumminello's review against another edition
5.0
I’d been thinking of reading Oyeyemi for a while now, though I wasn’t sure if I’d ever get around to her. I’m glad I did. Her writing ticks off certain boxes for me, or maybe just one specific box: great prose with storytelling that combines fairytale tropes with an almost-[a:Shirley Jackson|13388|Shirley Jackson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1550251468p2/13388.jpg] feel.
The Silver family’s matriarchal house in Dover is one of the first-person narrators. I didn’t think of it while reading, but its relationship to Miranda is reminiscent of the antagonistic, destiny-laden relationship of the evil patriarchal house to Eleanor in [b:The Haunting of Hill House|89717|The Haunting of Hill House|Shirley Jackson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327871336l/89717._SY75_.jpg|3627]: Both houses are spaces of oppression. While reading, I did think of the host-hostage theory from the essay by Rebecca Million in [b:Shirley Jackson|57886522|Shirley Jackson|Woofter|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1619644621l/57886522._SY75_.jpg|90685102], though here it’s not of the mother-role, but concerning Luc, the father of Miranda and her twin brother Eliot. The Cambridge section of the novel should’ve reminded me of [b:Hangsaman|131177|Hangsaman|Shirley Jackson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1302734503l/131177._SY75_.jpg|1825944], but only did after the fact. Instead, while reading it, I thought of [a:Penelope Fitzgerald|3222|Penelope Fitzgerald|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1425224738p2/3222.jpg]’s [b:The Gate of Angels|838196|The Gate of Angels|Penelope Fitzgerald|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348834549l/838196._SY75_.jpg|851626].
Eliot is another first-person narrator, and his reliability and the house’s are both called into question at least once when one of them has to be lying. Luc—not a Silver (and French)—operates a bed-and-breakfast in the ancestral house his wife Lily inherited. The house doesn’t seem to want Luc there. It certainly doesn’t want the guests and employees who are not English and not white to stay there.
As for the fairytales, there’s no specific story I was reminded of, though Hansel and Gretel are mentioned once in reference to the twins. They’re finished with the local school and it’s time for them to leave the family home—or not. There are all-season apples (shades of Snow White). There’s an entity Miranda calls the goodlady; her friend Ore, of Nigerian descent, sees it as a soucouyant.
I have theories about the questions I was left with, especially regarding Lily and the power the house had over her, despite her being different from her mother and grandmother. Lily is not a focus of the book, but is a focus of the twins, especially Miranda, who has inherited her mother’s eating disorder: What else has Miranda inherited that she has no power over?
The Silver family’s matriarchal house in Dover is one of the first-person narrators. I didn’t think of it while reading, but its relationship to Miranda is reminiscent of the antagonistic, destiny-laden relationship of the evil patriarchal house to Eleanor in [b:The Haunting of Hill House|89717|The Haunting of Hill House|Shirley Jackson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327871336l/89717._SY75_.jpg|3627]: Both houses are spaces of oppression. While reading, I did think of the host-hostage theory from the essay by Rebecca Million in [b:Shirley Jackson|57886522|Shirley Jackson|Woofter|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1619644621l/57886522._SY75_.jpg|90685102], though here it’s not of the mother-role, but concerning Luc, the father of Miranda and her twin brother Eliot. The Cambridge section of the novel should’ve reminded me of [b:Hangsaman|131177|Hangsaman|Shirley Jackson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1302734503l/131177._SY75_.jpg|1825944], but only did after the fact. Instead, while reading it, I thought of [a:Penelope Fitzgerald|3222|Penelope Fitzgerald|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1425224738p2/3222.jpg]’s [b:The Gate of Angels|838196|The Gate of Angels|Penelope Fitzgerald|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348834549l/838196._SY75_.jpg|851626].
Eliot is another first-person narrator, and his reliability and the house’s are both called into question at least once when one of them has to be lying. Luc—not a Silver (and French)—operates a bed-and-breakfast in the ancestral house his wife Lily inherited. The house doesn’t seem to want Luc there. It certainly doesn’t want the guests and employees who are not English and not white to stay there.
As for the fairytales, there’s no specific story I was reminded of, though Hansel and Gretel are mentioned once in reference to the twins. They’re finished with the local school and it’s time for them to leave the family home—or not. There are all-season apples (shades of Snow White). There’s an entity Miranda calls the goodlady; her friend Ore, of Nigerian descent, sees it as a soucouyant.
I have theories about the questions I was left with, especially regarding Lily and the power the house had over her, despite her being different from her mother and grandmother. Lily is not a focus of the book, but is a focus of the twins, especially Miranda, who has inherited her mother’s eating disorder: What else has Miranda inherited that she has no power over?
lanternheart's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief