This was not the sinister, gothic story I thought it would be.
I’m so tired of the split-time trope. I wanted more on Nella and Eliza. The Caroline stThis was not the sinister, gothic story I thought it would be.
I’m so tired of the split-time trope. I wanted more on Nella and Eliza. The Caroline storyline didn’t add anything of value and I do feel this would have been more enjoyable as pure historical fiction without the modern melodrama.
The obsession with babies and pregnancy (and random mentioning of same at really odd junctures) from every female character except Eliza and Gaynor was tedious as hell.
It irked me that Caroline found the apothecary. It’s implausible and completely unrealistic that it was even still there. Even if it had survived the war, I can’t be expected to believe that some parasitic real estate developer hadn’t paved over that site or turned it into micro-flats. It’s London FFS.
I can’t entirely explain why but the ending kind of annoyed me. (view spoiler)[ Chucking the bottle back into the river made no sense to me at all. Why was Caroline so invested in keeping this a secret? It rather felt like the whole research debacle was for nought when she lobbed the bottle in the Thames. (hide spoiler)]
This isn’t a bad book; it’s a pretty quick read but I wanted more from it than it delivered....more
This wasn’t at all what I was expecting. It’s not the dystopian, apocalyptic thriller that I was hoping for... it’s more of a “political thriller” butThis wasn’t at all what I was expecting. It’s not the dystopian, apocalyptic thriller that I was hoping for... it’s more of a “political thriller” but, like, not thrilling? I feel like this wasn’t flushed out enough to be engaging and was entirely superficial and forgettable. ...more
August 2022 Update: still an emotional read but a good one. I still love Lucky with all my heart. The MC is still annoying af. Since reading this lastAugust 2022 Update: still an emotional read but a good one. I still love Lucky with all my heart. The MC is still annoying af. Since reading this last time, I’ve moved to the seaside and the bit with the seagulls scared the daylights out of me! I’ve been divebombed myself and it’s bad enough when they’re trying to get your chips, much less kill you! The story and graphic loss within these pages breaks my heart. I will hug my husband and Golden all the tighter. I stand by that this isn’t an easy read!
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This is a very well-written and emotional book. It probably wasn’t the wisest pandemic choice as it gave me nightmares and made me sad but hopefully I’ll be able to re-read it in happier times and enjoy it more.
While the overall story was interesting, I got so bogged down in the painfully descriptive writing that, in the end, I came to dread picking this up. While the overall story was interesting, I got so bogged down in the painfully descriptive writing that, in the end, I came to dread picking this up. A good yarn dampened by being overly verbose. ...more
I wasn’t wild about the jumps to and from the past as they were quite jarring and didn’t have a natural pause. T**spoiler alert** This is a solid 3.5
I wasn’t wild about the jumps to and from the past as they were quite jarring and didn’t have a natural pause. The story was well written but, oddly for such a subject, fell flat emotionally. Despite the horrific subject matter, I wouldn’t call this a thriller exactly. The tension is at the beginning when Lex escapes but the rest is just filling in the blanks.
This is a very sad story and the revelation about Evie was heartbreaking. This is an excellent character study and the sibling dynamics were fascinating.
I’m still not entirely sure what happened at the end... was Lex acknowledging her ghosts, regressing, or did she kill herself to be with Evie? ...more
This was a bit difficult to get in to at first. I didn’t quite realize what the setup was and found the real life story mixed with the film media s3.5
This was a bit difficult to get in to at first. I didn’t quite realize what the setup was and found the real life story mixed with the film media super confusing.
This is definitely more of an ode to slasher films than a true horror novel; it’s not quite as tongue-in-cheek as some of the author’s other stories. ...more
This had a lot of elements that I thought would make a cracking story: exorcisms, priests, claustrophobic communities, symbolism… but, the executio3.5
This had a lot of elements that I thought would make a cracking story: exorcisms, priests, claustrophobic communities, symbolism… but, the execution fell a bit flat.
Firstly, it took far too long to get into the story. The last 150 pages or so were excellent but there was too much waffly preamble at the beginning that was a bit of a deterrent.
Secondly, this book simply tried to be too much. There were too many storylines for me to get engaged with any of them fully.
While the last section certainly redeemed the book, I felt like this could have been a lot better if it had a firmer plot and ironed out the pacing issues....more
I was so excited to read this and I’m truly gutted I didn’t enjoy it!
I found the writing style and dialogue very stilted. Hettie was absolutely robotiI was so excited to read this and I’m truly gutted I didn’t enjoy it!
I found the writing style and dialogue very stilted. Hettie was absolutely robotic, devoid of any character/emotion and I didn’t feel any vested interest in her as a lead character. Her obsession with boys and inner monologue on same was tedious and not what I was at all interested in reading.
Her relationships with her line manager, Ferris, her mother, and Liam were all downright bizarre. She blew hot and cold and the relationship dynamics for all turned on a dime. One minute Mr Wright thinks she’s an inept knob and the next he’s hugging her and getting all maudlin. It was jarring and confusing.
Another element that was rather jarring was how everyone kept calling each other by their first and last name (and sometimes middle). It didn’t help the authenticity of the dialogue and was another reason the dialogue felt so stilted.
I agree with some other reviewers that the gratuitous sex in this was off-putting. Interesting parts of the story were glossed over but we got two graphic sex scenes for no reason? It was a bit strange and an odd choice for a bleak book.
I love elephants and the (view spoiler)[culling of the bonded pair really bothered me as did Hettie giving people rides on Violet. That’s so cruel and upsetting. Never mind the completely ridiculous the notion of Violet staying at Hettie’s house. She was far better off with the nuns if she couldn’t be at the zoo! (hide spoiler)]
Now that I’ve read the book, it’s apparent why the European publishers changed the title of this from “The Elephant of Belfast” to “The Zookeeper of Belfast”. I would have loved to see more focus on the elephant than on Hettie melodrama....more
I love Louise Penny and the cover of this book is easily the prettiest in my shelf; but there were a few things I struggled with in Madness:
I felt 4.5
I love Louise Penny and the cover of this book is easily the prettiest in my shelf; but there were a few things I struggled with in Madness:
I felt like the pandemic bits were unrealistic. You could tell it was very much a reality that Louise wanted (and that’s fair) but it was a bit hard to stomach after almost two years in. The way it was portrayed was that “a year after the vaccine everything went back to normal” didn’t feel authentic given we’re now more polarized than ever dealing with anti-vaccine uprisings, variants, and seemingly no end in sight. This one might be on me though, I also didn’t realize how much I did not want to read about pandemic. >.<
I am starting to feel that the characters are becoming caricatures of themselves: Clara is sloppy and gross, Ruth/Rosa are foul-mouthed, Beauvoir is a loose cannon… While it’s nice to go back to Three Pines, we do sometimes retread the same ground over and over.
This book was a lot slower to start than the others. We were over 150 pages in before we saw the murder and even I was getting a bit impatient. I also kept wracking my brains about whether I should know a character or a backstory that hadn’t been introduced yet. We were on familiar terms with new characters which my poor addled brain found confusing. That one is definitely on me.
Louise Penny is one of my favourite people on the planet. And my favourite writer. I’m going to keep reading her books and will perhaps give this story another whirl if this pandemic is ever behind us. I did love winter in Quebec (which reminded me very much of the winters of my childhood) and there was a festive vibe to this book that made this enjoyable time of year to read it.
I work in academia and found the academic freedom of speech thread fascinating. This is a very real and pertinent issue in the UK and it can be pretty scary when people believe that their opinion trumps the human rights and safety of others. Society is moving in a pretty scary direction and this book’s theme of ‘The Madness of Crowds’ uncannily timely.
Ultimately, I do recommend it (and have done!). But, tread lightly if you’re a bit weary of pandemic....more
Holy cow, that was wild: tense, frustrating, ridiculous, and over the top. If you like campy horror films, this is definitely the book for you.
Th3.5
Holy cow, that was wild: tense, frustrating, ridiculous, and over the top. If you like campy horror films, this is definitely the book for you.
The lead character is a total idiot and it makes for some really frustrating reading at times; she’s unsympathetic and one dimensional. The plot is so over-the-top ridiculous that it requires a suspension of disbelief.
The film stuff was really tedious and I felt the ending was a cop-out. I predicted almost all of the twists which put a damper on my overall enjoyment - I don’t know if I’ve read too many books like this or they’re getting a bit formulaic.
This didn’t have the same feel as other Riley Sager books. It didn’t feel as flushed out. If the other books are paintings, this is a pencil sketch. Needless to say, a middling Riley Sager book is still an engaging and suspenseful read. I don’t regret reading this - I basically read it in one sitting! ...more
This was a really gripping book and it kept me guessing right til the end.
I think what made this book especially enjoyable for me was the setting. ThThis was a really gripping book and it kept me guessing right til the end.
I think what made this book especially enjoyable for me was the setting. This was set in a neighbourhood I lived in for 18 months and honestly, this book was like a time capsule back to West Hampstead. Absolutely cracking attention to detail... even the little things like mentioning Oriental Star (which is excellent, by the way) and Cate describing the view from the Waitrose self-checkouts... it was like being transported right back!