alexisreadingabook's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
croisam's review against another edition
2.0
Meh/10. Took me a long time to get the motivation to finish it. The first few chapters are very good and then…
The principal issue I had from the first line is the characters. They're the worst I have read in a long time, I couldn’t care for what was happening to them because I had absolutely zero connection or empathy for them. I think the idea of having a morally grey main character is always good, but here it clearly wasn’t executed well.
You end up losing any sense of attachment to the heroine really quickly, at the same time you can’t pity the characters she’s hurt because they’re not good either. The only one I wanted to be happy, is just the subject of an interesting subplot only there to give an excuse to the situation our heroine is in. Her motivations, her guilt, fear and depression would be way more impactful if there was at least something good in her. But there’s not, every time you think she’s getting better she does something stupid or mean, and you don’t want her to succeed. She’s not enough of a vilain to intrigue us, but not enough of a good person for us to pity. She’s miserable but without any other quality to contrast it, like it’s the case for characters like Sherlock Holmes who are too clever and witty to be hated, and you can’t help but want to see what his next move is. Here you just don’t care, I think the author let her be too much of a troubled soul for too long, her redemption doesn’t come until the very end, and you’re not even sure if she’s doing it to really change or just to calm her guilt.
From that point, all the characters who are introduced to us are either too much of baddies or too weird, plus half of them are there just to fill the house, nothing more. One of them is Louise, the second main character and key to the whole plot, and from her first moments she is described as a senile old woman, not talking and not moving. We need to get further into the book to have a real glimpse of who she is, through flashbacks ...but at that point I’d already decided that I didn’t care, and flashback are not a efficient way to present your character, the action from that period is passed, that’s the whole point, and so any information you reveal through it about the personality is irrelevant. Even more when the present character is crazy and useless. Everything about her from the flashback period is pointless information, and the answers we need about her, like her slow decades-long fall into madness, are not shown.
The good point is the storyline’s construction. The suspense is there until the last chapter, and you don’t even get all the answers thanks to a half open ending (which annoys me but I can recognize a good styled ending even when I don’t like it). The flashbacks are justified when they explain the past events to help us figure the issue, even if they’re not all introduced well. Some are there to explain the main character's actual situation, and are presented as traumatic memories she thinks of, but others just get there...without any announcement.
Even if the construction is good, the plot in itself is messy. You start with a psychological thriller, then you get to the supernatural elements, to go back to the psychological points and you end up with a mix that’s not entirely working as it should. I was also really surprised and a bit sad that, when comes one of the big revelations, we learn a piece of information really choking and horrifying but nothing good is done with it, it’s just dropped as a fact, hanging in the background . It could’ve been so good if the plot focused a little bit more on it, it was a key to real horror and even could’ve helped some characters’ resolution.
In the end, the open ending doesn’t really give you the answers and you get to interpret the final answer. Which should be good, the problem is that you have more elements hinting at one option, but the author really wants you to hesitate so she’s giving random elements to make you doubt, though you can feel that it’s forced upon the reader. It gives the impression that the author herself doesn’t know how her story ends.
To conclude, if you go in there wanting a psychological thriller/horror it’s a good story to enjoy, but be prepared to not have the satisfaction of a mystery entirely solved. However, if you read it as supernatural horror, then it’s bad and you’ll be disappointed. Good story, bad characters, unstable writing style. I would recommend it if you have nothing else to read, preferably when you’re in an open mindset.
The principal issue I had from the first line is the characters. They're the worst I have read in a long time, I couldn’t care for what was happening to them because I had absolutely zero connection or empathy for them. I think the idea of having a morally grey main character is always good, but here it clearly wasn’t executed well.
You end up losing any sense of attachment to the heroine really quickly, at the same time you can’t pity the characters she’s hurt because they’re not good either. The only one I wanted to be happy, is just the subject of an interesting subplot only there to give an excuse to the situation our heroine is in. Her motivations, her guilt, fear and depression would be way more impactful if there was at least something good in her. But there’s not, every time you think she’s getting better she does something stupid or mean, and you don’t want her to succeed. She’s not enough of a vilain to intrigue us, but not enough of a good person for us to pity. She’s miserable but without any other quality to contrast it, like it’s the case for characters like Sherlock Holmes who are too clever and witty to be hated, and you can’t help but want to see what his next move is. Here you just don’t care, I think the author let her be too much of a troubled soul for too long, her redemption doesn’t come until the very end, and you’re not even sure if she’s doing it to really change or just to calm her guilt.
From that point, all the characters who are introduced to us are either too much of baddies or too weird, plus half of them are there just to fill the house, nothing more. One of them is Louise, the second main character and key to the whole plot, and from her first moments she is described as a senile old woman, not talking and not moving. We need to get further into the book to have a real glimpse of who she is, through flashbacks ...but at that point I’d already decided that I didn’t care, and flashback are not a efficient way to present your character, the action from that period is passed, that’s the whole point, and so any information you reveal through it about the personality is irrelevant. Even more when the present character is crazy and useless. Everything about her from the flashback period is pointless information, and the answers we need about her, like her slow decades-long fall into madness, are not shown.
The good point is the storyline’s construction. The suspense is there until the last chapter, and you don’t even get all the answers thanks to a half open ending (which annoys me but I can recognize a good styled ending even when I don’t like it). The flashbacks are justified when they explain the past events to help us figure the issue, even if they’re not all introduced well. Some are there to explain the main character's actual situation, and are presented as traumatic memories she thinks of, but others just get there...without any announcement.
Even if the construction is good, the plot in itself is messy. You start with a psychological thriller, then you get to the supernatural elements, to go back to the psychological points and you end up with a mix that’s not entirely working as it should. I was also really surprised and a bit sad that, when comes one of the big revelations, we learn a piece of information really choking and horrifying but nothing good is done with it, it’s just dropped as a fact, hanging in the background . It could’ve been so good if the plot focused a little bit more on it, it was a key to real horror and even could’ve helped some characters’ resolution.
In the end, the open ending doesn’t really give you the answers and you get to interpret the final answer. Which should be good, the problem is that you have more elements hinting at one option, but the author really wants you to hesitate so she’s giving random elements to make you doubt, though you can feel that it’s forced upon the reader. It gives the impression that the author herself doesn’t know how her story ends.
To conclude, if you go in there wanting a psychological thriller/horror it’s a good story to enjoy, but be prepared to not have the satisfaction of a mystery entirely solved. However, if you read it as supernatural horror, then it’s bad and you’ll be disappointed. Good story, bad characters, unstable writing style. I would recommend it if you have nothing else to read, preferably when you’re in an open mindset.
thecultcrop's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
siriface's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
alicemaryblanks14's review against another edition
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
paperbookmarks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Very gripping but I just found it a bit odd? Too many loose ends not tied up for me!
darcyjanea's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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
3.5
eleanorgking's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0