A review by christacolaizzi
The House of Secrets by Sophie Draper
2.0
Thank you to NetGalley and Sophie Draper for providing a digital review copy in exchange for honest feedback.
Draper’s concept of a before-and-after timeline of a tumultuous marriage, their child, infidelity, and ultimate separation is lovely. The story itself is fun, mysterious, and stimulating. Draper’s writing and imagery is excellent throughout. Unfortunately, my personal reading preferences did not align with the way The House of Secrets was styled.
All of the characters were unlikable to me. Claire seemed to be paranoid, bitter, and insecure. Dunkin had one redeeming quality (his love for animals), but other than that, I felt he was a narcissistic, emotionally abusive, unfaithful, angry character. In fact, I believe Dunkin and Claire both were easy to hate. Their son, Joe, had the most potential to be a likable, relatable character, but his character wasn’t developed enough for me as the reader to establish a connection to him.
I thought that throughout the majority of the book, nothing of true substance was happening. It was a lot of description, imagery, and dreams, but no real content.
I felt this story was very “jumpy”. The timeline was confusing to me; throughout it I couldn’t tell what the main story line was. It took 98% of the book to establish what the before-and-after event was. Without spoilers, I can only say that the reveals of this book were disappointing to say the least, while also being a bit boring. I’m sorry to say this book wasn’t one I enjoyed reading.
TW for this book: elderly animal abuse/animal pain
Draper’s concept of a before-and-after timeline of a tumultuous marriage, their child, infidelity, and ultimate separation is lovely. The story itself is fun, mysterious, and stimulating. Draper’s writing and imagery is excellent throughout. Unfortunately, my personal reading preferences did not align with the way The House of Secrets was styled.
All of the characters were unlikable to me. Claire seemed to be paranoid, bitter, and insecure. Dunkin had one redeeming quality (his love for animals), but other than that, I felt he was a narcissistic, emotionally abusive, unfaithful, angry character. In fact, I believe Dunkin and Claire both were easy to hate. Their son, Joe, had the most potential to be a likable, relatable character, but his character wasn’t developed enough for me as the reader to establish a connection to him.
I thought that throughout the majority of the book, nothing of true substance was happening. It was a lot of description, imagery, and dreams, but no real content.
I felt this story was very “jumpy”. The timeline was confusing to me; throughout it I couldn’t tell what the main story line was. It took 98% of the book to establish what the before-and-after event was. Without spoilers, I can only say that the reveals of this book were disappointing to say the least, while also being a bit boring. I’m sorry to say this book wasn’t one I enjoyed reading.
TW for this book: elderly animal abuse/animal pain