Reviews

Le parfum de la dame en noir by Gaston Leroux

jalis's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-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

fireblend's review against another edition

3.0

As a sequel to Mystery of the Yellow Room this one surprised me; it's less straightforward as a mystery, in fact I'd say part of the puzzle is figuring out what the mystery actually is, or which of the multiple questions that get brought up throughout the book actually matter. This "looseness" is also reflected in Rouletabille's actions and demeanor, whose usual genius is incapacitated by the very personal circumstances that surround the central events of the novel, which also casts Sinclair, his assistant, in more of a handler role and makes both of them feel like onlookers rather than active participants. By the time the explanations came, I honestly wasn't as invested in the mystery aspect and some of the usual satisfaction involved was lost on me.

alexaela's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.25

Kind of felt overkill since i was hoping for a whole different story. thankfully, by the half-way point, i was hooked. Love the way things get so obviously weird you forget to actually question some of them because "there's no way any of that leads to something!" fully fell into the wrong lead this time around. the mystery made sense but rouletabille being so evasive towards Synclair highkey pissed me off in this one... guess it was on purpose though so i'll forgive him. kinda glad it's over though, so we can finally move on ((Lady Stangerson isn’t much fun)).

halfhope's review against another edition

adventurous 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? No

2.25

anyajulchen's review against another edition

1.0

La primera parte de esta serie, "El misterio del cuarto amarillo" me marcó por su versatilidad, la forma en la que los hechos se desarrollaron de una manera lógica y ordenada, y los personajes entrañables. El misterio, aunque fascinante, no marcaba tanto la pauta como el contexto en el que se desarrollaba.

Sin embargo, pasa lo contrario con "El Perfume de la Dama de Negro". Aunque el misterio es interesante, hay problemas de ejecución de escenas y de desarrollo de los personajes, donde todo parece superficial y demasiado explícito en su evidencia. El esquema de las acciones es un desastre que va de un lado a otro, también, además de profundizar en temas paralelos con demasiados detalles y apenas mencionar los que de verdad interesan.

Si consigo el resto de la saga, terminaré la serie de novelas, pero este segundo libro resultó una disminución de la calidad.

mollyfiddler's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

theclassicgoth's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

4.75

suzid's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

2.5

Not quite as good as the first in this series so not sure I will read the last. Lots of contrived plot lines to further the mystery and too many repetitive phrases like the title one of 'the perfume of the lady in black'. It wasn't very believable taking away most of the enjoyment of the story as it might have made.

colorfulleo92's review against another edition

2.0

I love Gaston Leroux's phantom of the opera and hoped his other works would be as good but so far I haven't quite enjoyed them. Not terrible but not as memorable as phantom

smg's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75