Reviews

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

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doriereads's review

4.0

4.5 stars… an absorbing story about two siblings and the ties they have to the house of their childhood. Lots of interesting thoughts about generational trauma and the way events from childhood carry well into adulthood. I also appreciated the beautiful messages about forgiveness from the brilliant Maeve!

leonorcferreira's review

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adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes

4.75

angeerah's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-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

jillabby's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

The book follows a family that lived in The Dutch House

lululem's review

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3.0

”childhood wasn’t something she could imagine inflicting on another person, especially not a person she loved.”

i’ve read reviews where people said this book was calming and therapeutic. i very very very much disagree.

literally fuck this book. fuck childhood trauma. fuck it fuck it fuck it. this book actually makes me so mad. it upsets me so much that we can let our shitty childhoods take over the rest of our lives making us miserable. everytime you’ve suffered it always goes back to your childhood. fuck that. i hate it here bye.

anyways. now that the mtbd is over.
three star books always make me wanna bang my head against the wall. i usually have the most complicated feelings towards them.

the pacing of this book was not my favourite thing. there were times where i felt like the pages flew by and i was very engrossed in the story and in danny and maeve’s lives, however, some parts i found tended to feel dragged out, very dull, and difficult to get through. some very important parts of the story got one sentence and were dismissed but then im reading pages upon pages about danny in med school. i dont care? it added nothing?

i wanted to love this book. but it was a weird mixture of boredom and intrigue then the end randomly made me really emotional. i don’t know who i hate more: andrea or elna. anyway maeve and may were the mvps of the book for me.