sooky's review
5.0
This was insane! In the best possible way. Similarly to other books by Will Carver I find this hard to describe. Was it horror? Sure. Mystery? Not really. But it was certainly disturbing while also very entertaining. The audiobook narrator, Theo Solomon performed the story brilliantly, adding to that casual style Will Carver often used in his other stories to describe something utterly mind boggling. It's like someone tells you about this dinner they went to, and how the food was amazing, and then someone got stabbed in the eye right before the dessert was served, great times, ha-ha, isn't that fantastic?!
snikelfritz's review
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
pameana's review
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
becky_efc's review
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
herreadingroom's review
4.0
OMG!!! What the heck have I just read??!!!
What a book! This is the first of Will Carver’s books that I have read and whatever I was expecting it wasn’t this. I mean I’d read that his books are “quirky” but there’s quirky and then there is QUIRKY, and this book most definitely falls into the latter camp for me.
The Beresford is a standalone novel about an apartment building where the rent is dirt cheap. The landlady is Mrs May, cold and emotionally detached but a seemingly innocent old lady who enjoys pruning her roses, afternoon napping and imbibing in her wine; but you’d better watch out as, quite frankly, she makes Daphne du Maurier’s Mrs Danvers look like Tinkerbell!
The tenants all have a common denominator in that they are all trying to escape from their own personal problems and The Beresford seems to provide the haven they are looking for – if only they knew they were stepping into a hellish purgatory of sorts in which they are neither safe nor belong.
At The Beresford things are seriously off kilter, things are radically wrong. People are being killed and within 60 seconds the body must be moved before the next unwitting tenant rings the doorbell – and that’s when everything changes. But what is it that makes a killer out of someone? And who will be next?
This is not for the faint hearted – it’s dark, macabre, twisted, gruesome, grisly, eerie, sinister and very creepy BUT despite this there are oases of black humour which seem to lift the book somehow. It’s very clever and quite brilliant – I thoroughly enjoyed it!
I’m looking forward to reading the rest of Will Carver’s books.
What a book! This is the first of Will Carver’s books that I have read and whatever I was expecting it wasn’t this. I mean I’d read that his books are “quirky” but there’s quirky and then there is QUIRKY, and this book most definitely falls into the latter camp for me.
The Beresford is a standalone novel about an apartment building where the rent is dirt cheap. The landlady is Mrs May, cold and emotionally detached but a seemingly innocent old lady who enjoys pruning her roses, afternoon napping and imbibing in her wine; but you’d better watch out as, quite frankly, she makes Daphne du Maurier’s Mrs Danvers look like Tinkerbell!
The tenants all have a common denominator in that they are all trying to escape from their own personal problems and The Beresford seems to provide the haven they are looking for – if only they knew they were stepping into a hellish purgatory of sorts in which they are neither safe nor belong.
At The Beresford things are seriously off kilter, things are radically wrong. People are being killed and within 60 seconds the body must be moved before the next unwitting tenant rings the doorbell – and that’s when everything changes. But what is it that makes a killer out of someone? And who will be next?
This is not for the faint hearted – it’s dark, macabre, twisted, gruesome, grisly, eerie, sinister and very creepy BUT despite this there are oases of black humour which seem to lift the book somehow. It’s very clever and quite brilliant – I thoroughly enjoyed it!
I’m looking forward to reading the rest of Will Carver’s books.
ljwrites85's review
4.0
I've read a couple of books by Will Carver now and I've always come to expect the unexpected while reading his novels and The Beresford is no different.
The Beresford is written in Will Carver's signature style, dark, a little gruesome, underlined by a cynical tone and sharp wit.
I love the fact that the characters seem so ordinary and lifelike, like you'd know someone who's similar or you could imagine passing one of them in the street but each one is compelling in their own way.
The Beresford is almost like a character in itself even though it's only a building. It's owned and run by the elderly Mrs May. It's an old and imposing building but the rent is cheap so there's always a line of willing people to rent a flat there, even though the turnover rate of renters there is incredibly high.
While there is an air of mystery, (I mean why do the residents keep murdering each other???), I'd say this is more out-and-out horror than Will Carver's usual horror/mystery novels. I'd still recommend it if you loved his previous books.
The Beresford is Gothic, creepy and more than a little unsettling yet still keeps you glued to those pages.
The Beresford is written in Will Carver's signature style, dark, a little gruesome, underlined by a cynical tone and sharp wit.
I love the fact that the characters seem so ordinary and lifelike, like you'd know someone who's similar or you could imagine passing one of them in the street but each one is compelling in their own way.
The Beresford is almost like a character in itself even though it's only a building. It's owned and run by the elderly Mrs May. It's an old and imposing building but the rent is cheap so there's always a line of willing people to rent a flat there, even though the turnover rate of renters there is incredibly high.
While there is an air of mystery, (I mean why do the residents keep murdering each other???), I'd say this is more out-and-out horror than Will Carver's usual horror/mystery novels. I'd still recommend it if you loved his previous books.
The Beresford is Gothic, creepy and more than a little unsettling yet still keeps you glued to those pages.
charliellewellyn's review
fast-paced
1.5
I spent the first half of this book trying to work out if I liked it or not. Realised I didn't but felt like I was too far in to give up. Got to the end absolutely despising it.
The worst part is I can't even explain why.
The worst part is I can't even explain why.
markhoh's review
5.0
What do you want?
2022 has really started with a bang with Will Carver’s standalone novel ‘The Beresford’. Deliciously and darkly disturbing, Carver serves up a diet of fantastic story telling while also making provocative statements about the human experience, both collective and otherwise. It really is the most unique writing style and Carver is fast becoming one of my favourite authors because of his uncanny ability to write a psychological thriller that is kind of really psychological.
Will Carver intersperses his novel with standalone chapters, each entitled, ‘What do you want?’, dissecting a number of ways that this question is responded to. It seems like such a simple question that surely is simple to answer. But even as I type these words I’m kind of in a state of paralysis over how I answer that question or what it is that I actually want. As Carver highlights, I could respond by saying what I don’t want, a common enough response, but one that doesn’t answer the question.
So, as per usual, Will Carver has set me on some sort of existential exploration, requiring reflection, introspection and the need to call a spade a spade. Carver doesn’t pull any punches in his writing and The Beresford attests to that on every page.
The Beresford is a set of apartments, an old world, grand building where the rent is unbelievably cheap but it would seem that to live there is costly. The apartment building is split into two levels with two separate entrances. The landlady and owner, Mrs May lives on the ground floor where three other apartments on two levels are accessible. The third floor up and seemingly a different world require a different doorway.
Mrs May seems to know everything that is going on with every tenant, has been around for a hundred years, has her own share of grief and heartache, is provocative and unafraid to ask her tenants that question - What do you want? Above all else. Anything. The thing you truly want with everything you are?
What is that one thing you would give up your soul for? It’s kind of an age old question and Carver explores it in a fresh, unique and sobering way. Through a cast of tenants, The Beresford is lodging for Abe, the shy geeky guy looking for love; Blair, the girl from the Bible Belt looking to find herself and cast off restraint; Gail, battered and abused, running from an abusive relationship, pregnant with life; Aubrey, privileged and wealthy, wanting to stand on her own two feet; Saffy, online jewellery maker overnight success story and Jordan Irving, would be script writer wanting to make a name for himself.
Mrs May is a pivotal character and Carver seems to use her to drive home the provocation of ‘selling your soul’ to contractually get the very thing you want (perhaps what you think you want?). She poses the question situation - “Imagine the building is engulfed in flames and you can only take one thing. I want you to grab that one thing and bring it back to me”. Firstly - that is a super hard thing for someone like me who doesn’t make choices easily and has never really allowed full expression to the things I like and secondly, how we respond to this situation gives us an insight into what it is that we really want. How to get it? Is there another way besides selling your soul and submitting to the ‘hell on earth’ idea that parallels this.
The Beresford is far more than a macabre tale - it is a statement about us, a statement about 21st century life. I have finished it feeling somewhat unsettled but pleased that this is book number one to see in the new year. It gives me much to reflect and journal - I need to spend time with that question - What do you want? - peel back the layers of each answer to find what it really really is.
2022 has really started with a bang with Will Carver’s standalone novel ‘The Beresford’. Deliciously and darkly disturbing, Carver serves up a diet of fantastic story telling while also making provocative statements about the human experience, both collective and otherwise. It really is the most unique writing style and Carver is fast becoming one of my favourite authors because of his uncanny ability to write a psychological thriller that is kind of really psychological.
Will Carver intersperses his novel with standalone chapters, each entitled, ‘What do you want?’, dissecting a number of ways that this question is responded to. It seems like such a simple question that surely is simple to answer. But even as I type these words I’m kind of in a state of paralysis over how I answer that question or what it is that I actually want. As Carver highlights, I could respond by saying what I don’t want, a common enough response, but one that doesn’t answer the question.
So, as per usual, Will Carver has set me on some sort of existential exploration, requiring reflection, introspection and the need to call a spade a spade. Carver doesn’t pull any punches in his writing and The Beresford attests to that on every page.
The Beresford is a set of apartments, an old world, grand building where the rent is unbelievably cheap but it would seem that to live there is costly. The apartment building is split into two levels with two separate entrances. The landlady and owner, Mrs May lives on the ground floor where three other apartments on two levels are accessible. The third floor up and seemingly a different world require a different doorway.
Mrs May seems to know everything that is going on with every tenant, has been around for a hundred years, has her own share of grief and heartache, is provocative and unafraid to ask her tenants that question - What do you want? Above all else. Anything. The thing you truly want with everything you are?
What is that one thing you would give up your soul for? It’s kind of an age old question and Carver explores it in a fresh, unique and sobering way. Through a cast of tenants, The Beresford is lodging for Abe, the shy geeky guy looking for love; Blair, the girl from the Bible Belt looking to find herself and cast off restraint; Gail, battered and abused, running from an abusive relationship, pregnant with life; Aubrey, privileged and wealthy, wanting to stand on her own two feet; Saffy, online jewellery maker overnight success story and Jordan Irving, would be script writer wanting to make a name for himself.
Mrs May is a pivotal character and Carver seems to use her to drive home the provocation of ‘selling your soul’ to contractually get the very thing you want (perhaps what you think you want?). She poses the question situation - “Imagine the building is engulfed in flames and you can only take one thing. I want you to grab that one thing and bring it back to me”. Firstly - that is a super hard thing for someone like me who doesn’t make choices easily and has never really allowed full expression to the things I like and secondly, how we respond to this situation gives us an insight into what it is that we really want. How to get it? Is there another way besides selling your soul and submitting to the ‘hell on earth’ idea that parallels this.
The Beresford is far more than a macabre tale - it is a statement about us, a statement about 21st century life. I have finished it feeling somewhat unsettled but pleased that this is book number one to see in the new year. It gives me much to reflect and journal - I need to spend time with that question - What do you want? - peel back the layers of each answer to find what it really really is.