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johanna_thehissilent's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
vacantbones's review against another edition
3.0
This book was entirely fine .
Well-written and full of lovely imagery, I had high hopes going in. Ultimately, it just wasn't enough to seal the deal for me.
My main gripe has to do with Seraphine - oh goodness, how unbearable! The thing about grief is that it's hard to judge people's actions in the immediate aftermath, but the ways in which she went about alienating the people in her life as a result of a single photograph made me find her to be totally unlikable. In fact, solving this mystery is the only real character trait we get for Seraphine. She's obsessed with her home and obsessed with finding the truth about her parentage. That's it. That's the character.
The saving grace for me ended up being the chapters set in the past, from au pair Laura's POV. I would've been perfectly content to read a book entirely from her perspective about what went down at the house during her stay and I think it would've made for a wild conclusion if the book itself ended with her Seraphine's manic frenzy in which she interrogates the whole damn village can't hold a candle to Laura's narrative. In fact, when I stop and think about it, you could just read Laura's chapters and skip the present scenes because they don't add much to the overall story.
Despite these flaws, I did find the book to be fairly breezy and interesting. The twist(s) are unnecessarily convoluted and the ultimate "bad guy" is a letdown, but I still found myself itching to pick this one up during the day. I don't think this book will linger with me in the future, but Summerbourne itself definitely will. I'd say it's worth a read, overall.
Well-written and full of lovely imagery, I had high hopes going in. Ultimately, it just wasn't enough to seal the deal for me.
My main gripe has to do with Seraphine - oh goodness, how unbearable! The thing about grief is that it's hard to judge people's actions in the immediate aftermath, but the ways in which she went about alienating the people in her life as a result of a single photograph made me find her to be totally unlikable. In fact, solving this mystery is the only real character trait we get for Seraphine. She's obsessed with her home and obsessed with finding the truth about her parentage. That's it. That's the character.
The saving grace for me ended up being the chapters set in the past, from au pair Laura's POV. I would've been perfectly content to read a book entirely from her perspective about what went down at the house during her stay and I think it would've made for a wild conclusion if the book itself ended with her
Spoiler
making the decisions that ultimately set in motion the events of the present.Despite these flaws, I did find the book to be fairly breezy and interesting. The twist(s) are unnecessarily convoluted and the ultimate "bad guy" is a letdown, but I still found myself itching to pick this one up during the day. I don't think this book will linger with me in the future, but Summerbourne itself definitely will. I'd say it's worth a read, overall.
lavins's review against another edition
3.0
The book is interesting and captivating until the end.... when it becomes a bit unrealistic.
thealizabeth's review against another edition
5.0
A delightful escapist read!
I really enjoyed the dual POVs of the Au Pair from 1991 and the daughter of the family who had the Au Pair in 2017. I love a good mystery that slowly unravels. The twists and turns were gripping, and the ending was appropriate for the circumstances.
I really enjoyed the dual POVs of the Au Pair from 1991 and the daughter of the family who had the Au Pair in 2017. I love a good mystery that slowly unravels. The twists and turns were gripping, and the ending was appropriate for the circumstances.
genthebookworm's review against another edition
3.0
When I requested The Au Pair from the library, I was under the impression that this would be a domestic thriller. While it had mystery, it was more of a slow burn family drama with a rather unrealistic ending. There was also a fantastical element that just didn't work for me. I did enjoy the concept of having the two narrators Seraphine and Laura tell this story while going back in forth in time.
While it was a slow build, I was initially drawn into this family mystery/literary fiction and enjoyed learning more as Seraphine started to dig into her families past. The setting was intriguing and reminded me a lot of the Lake House by Kate Morton which I loved.
There were many people to keep track of which made it a little tricky to connect some of the dots for a while but I was intrigued. The ending was just too implausible for me and left me disappointed. This was a 3-star book for me because I did really enjoy the first 3/4 of this book.
While it was a slow build, I was initially drawn into this family mystery/literary fiction and enjoyed learning more as Seraphine started to dig into her families past. The setting was intriguing and reminded me a lot of the Lake House by Kate Morton which I loved.
There were many people to keep track of which made it a little tricky to connect some of the dots for a while but I was intrigued. The ending was just too implausible for me and left me disappointed. This was a 3-star book for me because I did really enjoy the first 3/4 of this book.
zoer03's review against another edition
5.0
Very good thriller but quite quite over dramatised and a little bit un real. But the mystery and suspense made up for the pitfalls
shelf_love's review against another edition
4.0
Free physical book, review is my own.
Told in alternating point of view and timeline this story took me a hot minute to fall into. That being said, once you get into the flow of the story you are pulled right along and before you know it you are reaching that ending.
The journey to final discovery of all the truths was interesting and though the ending was convoluted and helped with a lot of "oh yeah" memories it was entertaining. Though some things you can guess from a mile away the actual events and final showdown was unique and done well for the most part. There are a lot of unanswered questions but they are better left that way.
Told in alternating point of view and timeline this story took me a hot minute to fall into. That being said, once you get into the flow of the story you are pulled right along and before you know it you are reaching that ending.
The journey to final discovery of all the truths was interesting and though the ending was convoluted and helped with a lot of "oh yeah" memories it was entertaining. Though some things you can guess from a mile away the actual events and final showdown was unique and done well for the most part. There are a lot of unanswered questions but they are better left that way.
lnoelle's review against another edition
4.0
In this novel, Seraphine seeks out answers to questions that arise after her father's death about her family. I enjoyed the suspense created in this book and it kept me turning he pages to see what was
going to be revealed.
going to be revealed.
ordinarypickle's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0