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gnomescottage's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Death
Moderate: Ableism
questingnotcoasting's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
There are six stories in this collection and while The Birds is definitely the best, I did enjoy all of them. I've read a few of her short stories before and these were similarly dark and atmospheric in tone. I really enjoy her writing and now I'm trying to decide which of her novels to read next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Animal death, and Death
Moderate: Ableism
annfernandez's review
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Oh, this was a wonderful short story collection. Du Maurier is able to build such a perfect atmosphere in such a short amount of pages for all of these stories, just wonderful.
My least favorite was, unsurprisingly, The Birds. While it is one of her most famous works, one I had even read before, I've never been able to fully connect with it and I'm even more bored by the story the second time. I don't have an opinion in regards to the characters, the story itself is mostly straightforward, and while I do enjoy the way it ended, it's a work that has never been for me.
Monte Verita was a surprise in that I felt rather meh about the story in the beginning but really enjoyed it as it went along, and while at the end I do believe the message was a bit too direct it was still very good and I still really enjoyed it.
The Apple Tree was also a surprise, albeit more about the story than my feelings on it. I wasn't expecting a psychological horror, but it's what I got and I couldn't be happier with that. It was everything I love from du Maurier and more, the tension built up perfectly and the ending right where it should be.
The Little Photographer had easily one of my least favorite protagonists across all of these short stories and I loved reading about her. She was genuinely horrible in every way she should've been for what her character was built up to be. Perfection.
Kiss Me Again, Stranger may be my favorite of the bunch, simply because I thought it was one story, kept reading and thought it would be another, and then continued to read until it revealed itself to be something entirely different. This is one I for sure would like to reread just because how much the ending puts everything else into perspective.
Finally, we have The Old Man, and I will be the first to say that du Maurier got me with this. It's an objectively straight-forward tale, until those last 2 sentences which, once again, make me want to immediately reread this to see what I missed.
I'm always hesitant to read older short stories because I'm afraid what they're doing has been done to death already or they just don't give me enough to chew on, but du Maurier gave me plenty. Absolutely fantastic.
My least favorite was, unsurprisingly, The Birds. While it is one of her most famous works, one I had even read before, I've never been able to fully connect with it and I'm even more bored by the story the second time. I don't have an opinion in regards to the characters, the story itself is mostly straightforward, and while I do enjoy the way it ended, it's a work that has never been for me.
Monte Verita was a surprise in that I felt rather meh about the story in the beginning but really enjoyed it as it went along, and while at the end I do believe the message was a bit too direct it was still very good and I still really enjoyed it.
The Apple Tree was also a surprise, albeit more about the story than my feelings on it. I wasn't expecting a psychological horror, but it's what I got and I couldn't be happier with that. It was everything I love from du Maurier and more, the tension built up perfectly and the ending right where it should be.
The Little Photographer had easily one of my least favorite protagonists across all of these short stories and I loved reading about her. She was genuinely horrible in every way she should've been for what her character was built up to be. Perfection.
Kiss Me Again, Stranger may be my favorite of the bunch, simply because I thought it was one story, kept reading and thought it would be another, and then continued to read until it revealed itself to be something entirely different. This is one I for sure would like to reread just because how much the ending puts everything else into perspective.
Finally, we have The Old Man, and I will be the first to say that du Maurier got me with this. It's an objectively straight-forward tale, until those last 2 sentences which, once again, make me want to immediately reread this to see what I missed.
I'm always hesitant to read older short stories because I'm afraid what they're doing has been done to death already or they just don't give me enough to chew on, but du Maurier gave me plenty. Absolutely fantastic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Ableism
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