Reviews

The House on Vesper Sands by Paraic O'Donnell

elephantsoups's review against another edition

Jesus christ NOTHING IS HAPPENING. The voice this is written in as well as the accents from the narrator make scenes hard to follow and understand and there are too many characters bumbling around being useless. 1/3 of the way through and you haven’t made me care about the mystery yet? 3 FULL HOURS of the audiobook? of nothing???? I don’t care about these people and the most interesting one died immediately. RIP girl idk what happened to you and I don’t trust any of these idiots to uncover it. 

This isn’t even vibey or atmospheric enough to continue to put up with. 

megermoe's review against another edition

1.0

Such a bad book. I couldn’t even finish it. The writing style the authors voice the use of field notes to tell the story made it feel so dry. 0/10 don’t recommend.

no_disassemble's review against another edition

4.0

Overall I enjoyed this book. I loved the characters of Cutter and Octavia and the mystery drew me in right away. My biggest complaint is that the story dragged at times. Near the end it was a page turner but in the middle I struggled to always feel excited to pick it back up, even though I really wanted to know the ending to the mystery. I’d still strongly recommend this if you’re a fan of mysteries and supernatural-themed stories. Just know that there are some slow parts in the middle that you’ll need to push through!

hbcbray's review against another edition

3.0

I'm not sure I exactly liked this book, but I couldn't put it down. Interesting how the crime(s) are only part of the exposition, never the action. For me, the horror never really came to a head since we, as readers, never experience what the victims do.

ladynik's review

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

aimeesue's review against another edition

5.0

One of the best books I've read this year, and I've read 140 in 2020, so that's saying something.

A whirlwind of the Victorian era - a mystery, some Spiritualsm, a poor ecclesiastical student pining for a beauty of a different class, the plight of the poor, and the irascible Inspector Cutter - all this, AND intrigue on a train. Quite a refreshing take on the ways in which the women of that era were repressed and abused as a matter of course. Paraic O'Donnell is a write to watch.

Wonderfully entertaining!

tofu2019's review against another edition

3.0

In some ways this book really delivered. It's atmospheric, cozy and the setting is visceral. I love the idea of reading a cozy Victorian murder mystery which I think this book was trying to be. Unfortunately, when it comes to the actual story, it was very slow, boring and almost nothing happened until the last 50 pages.

karensweeney's review against another edition

funny mysterious tense slow-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? No

2.75

allyson09's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense 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

2.0

adlang's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-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

3.5