Reviews tagging 'Death'

Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier

9 reviews

machenn's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0


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blewballoon's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.0

There is a lot of unpleasantness in this story. Most of the characters are terrible people, the atmosphere is bleak, and there's a sense of isolation for the main character as she deals with a lot of difficulties alone. I did like her, she's smart and she fights back as hard as she can when faced with any kind of attack, mental or physical. If it weren't for her strength of spirit, the book would have been rough to get through. I didn't care for the romance, though. Overall, not as appealing as Rebecca but it does build a strong sense of atmosphere and the prose is well done.
SpoilerBit of unfortunate implication for the albino person to be evil, even with the main character trying to remind herself not to be creeped out by his appearance before he's revealed as the villain

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gloriazthompson's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This was just too dark and depressing for too long, and I didn't care for the romance (at all).

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phantomgecko's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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? No

3.5

Dark, mysterious, upsetting. The twist
Spoilerthe albino being the kingpin
was predictable, but that's not a criticism.
SpoilerAll the paganism stuff seemed really rushed, though, so Francis's motivations weren't exactly fleshed out. Like, I knew he was behind things, but I still don't really know why.


My biggest complaint, tbh, was the narrator of the audiobook was a guy. I never felt connected to Mary because the voice he gave her was ridiculous. idk why a novel with a female protagonist was narrated thus, but oh well.

All in all, it's no Rebecca but still alright. 

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yolanda_h's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-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

3.5


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booksandmo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-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? Yes

3.5


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josieruby1's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25


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inkstutter's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0


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itsmattyfingsmokes's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.25

lots of thoughts. of course, since it's daphne du fucking maurier, the writing is INCREDIBLE. i truly dont know how she does it. she writes in a way that fully immerses you in the story, and even if you cant picture the setting exactly, you can FEEL it. no thoughts, just pure vibes. i think that's what i liked most about this - the eerie, foreboding, dark, cold, mysterious atmosphere that she set up and drew me into. 

this was definitely a lot darker than Rebecca had been. where Rebecca had been slow-paced, and had eerie undercurrent, this was more in-your-face, creepy, fucked up shit is happening right now and you're in the middle of it. I liked that Mary had a personality and stood up for herself and others. 

Spoiler My main problem with this book is that (1) it's marketed as a romance, and (2) it WAS a romance. If Mary falling in love with Jem had been solely for the sake of furthering the plot, and to show how one could fall in love with a Merlyn, and how dangerously lovable they could be, and how pitiable then the reader could look at Patience, then that would have been perfect. that is, in my opinion, how it should have been. but at the end of the book, Mary just suddenly gives in to everything that she has been fighting throughout the book and just... goes off with him? after pages and pages of her longing after her hometown, and all of his callous and sexist remarks, and how much she saw his brother in him, she just GOES WITH HIM?? IM SO MAD. When this happened in Rebecca, i accepted it because it was used to show how naive and impressionable the main character was. but MARY KNEW BETTER. MARY KNEW BETTER!!


I liked that du Maurier kind of personified the inn a bit. when Mary is standing inside it for the last time, it says, "She felt now that this was what Jamacia Inn had always waited for and feared. The damp walls, the creaking boards, the whispers in the air, and the footsteps that had no name: these were the warnings of a house that had felt itself long threatened." GAH so good 

Spoiler i also wasnt 100% satisfied with the big reveal at the end where the vicar dude was actually the mastermind behind it all and the one who had killed Joss and Patience. i honestly really had wanted Patience to be the one who had killed Joss, as kind of a fuck you for all the shit he had put her through. but no. she died alone and ignorant, just as she had lived. i hate that.


im so excited to read more of du Maurier's work. it is so good every time. i just have a love-hate relationship w this one bc of the romance. i will probably not be rereading. but the vibes were truly immaculate.

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