Reviews

Red Island House is a well-crafted story upon an even more beautiful and majestic setting. Shay is a professor who falls in love and marries a rich Italian businessman, Senna. When they meet, he is building his dream vacation home on an iconic beach in the island of Madagascar. She’s conflicted and challenged in this new setting as she searched for her place among her husband, his transgressions, and the staff of the home.

It's obvious that Angela Lee has a command of language as her descriptions of Madagascar are so rich and robust. I wish the characters were better developed, as I got a sense they seemed rather emotionally removed and impersonal. I was hoping for Shay to really open up and expand as the novel continued, but it didn't quite do it for me.

Thank you #netgalley and #scribner for my advanced copy.

tatyanarush's review against another edition

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2.0

Just was not my cup of tea. Had to keep looking up words/phrases being that they were in French or other languages. Found it hard to be engaged and visualize things going on in the book. I was counting down the days until I was finished reading it.

swar28's review against another edition

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2.0

This book failed to interest me. Though the beginning of the book was interesting and it got me hooked for the initial 100 pages, but after that, I only felt like skimming through the pages.

The life of Shay and the many people that surround her, have many stories to tell. Each story about their struggle, happiness and adventures. Almost all of them dealing with the hardships living on an Island in Madagasar.
For me most of the stories were interesting however, it felt very stretched. I was unable to connect with this book or with its characters. The book does dive deep into the culture of the people in Madagascar, which was interesting to know.
The book is well written. I did struggle to maneuver through the book with this type of writing, but it was enjoyable.

Overall the book is certainly interesting but does get a little difficult to go through. It wasn’t a memorable read. This opinion may change from person to person. Read this if you are intrigued about life on a remote Island in Madagasar.

Overall the book is certainly interesting but does get a little difficult to go though. This opinion may change from person to person. Read this if you are intrigued about life on a remote Island in Madagasar.

sarschr04's review against another edition

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slow-paced

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

2.5

hldahlseid's review against another edition

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2.0

Shay became her history. She was always simultaneously living in the space between cultures and identities, as well as matching all of them. She fit the foreigners' identities on Naratrany in that she came from a different country, but also fit the locals in that they shared the same ethnic roots and were Black. It seemed like the whole time Shay was living in between Madagascar, Italy, and America. And also lived in between the locals and people she felt great compassion for, like Bertine; the Europeans' modern colonialism and plantation fantasies of Senna and his old white guy fraternity group; and her upbringing and values taught to her by her parents in America. Over the course of the timeframe of Red Island House, Shay goes from being a tourist, to a traveler, to a part of the house and island. In the last chapter she reflects on her ancestors, and the impacts of slavery on generations afterwards. She reflects on her judgments during childhood on the plantation ladies, and the children of the white masters of the plantation, and the Black workers and slaves. How these children were, as Shay is herself realizing she is, “in the space between different worlds” (Lee 267). She now has empathy for the plantation ladies, as she has become a version of this herself. This makes the ending, even though it seems to leave the reader grasping for more, kind of symbolic in a way. Shay becomes her history, but also her future. This is probably why it ends with her no longer feeling alone, and meeting the son of Senna’s affair. He is the only other person connected in the same way she is to the island, and the only other person who lives between cultures and identities like Shay does.

whatjaninareads's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

lauramay_reads's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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