Jamaica Inn
Her mother's dying request takes Mary Yellan on a sad journey across the bleak moorland of Cornwall to reach Jamaica Inn, the home of her Aunt Patience. With the coachman's warning echoing in her memory, Mary arrives at a dismal place to find Patience a changed woman, cowering from her overbearing husband, Joss Merlyn.
Affected by the Inn's brooding power, Mary is thwarted in her attention to reform her aunt, and unwillingly drawn into the dark deeds of Joss and his accomplices. And, as she struggles with events beyond her control, Mary is further thrown by her feelings for a man she dare not trust....
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I wrote this review earlier and then Goodreads deleted it. >:(
3.5 stars
Compared to Rebecca, I think that I much preferred Rebecca. I saw in a review that someone said Daphne du Maurier takes common book genres and makes them ~spooky (so like Rebecca was a murder mystery/thriller and Jamaica Inn was romance) - since I pretty much never read romance and don't prefer it, that would make sense as to why I preferred Rebecca. I also felt that this book was much more predictable. I sort of knew halfway through who the main villain would end up being and what would happen at the end more or less - not all the details, of course, but still the jist of the matter, and I was pretty much right. The characters all felt very trope-y, as opposed to her other more memorable characters (thinking of Mrs. Danvers, of course). I never felt truly engaged in the plot and sort of just didn't...care what happened to the main character.
Still, if there's one thing she is good at, it is bringing the gothic atmosphere to life. Her descriptions of the moors and landscape is spot on, and she turns it basically into another character of the book. She uses the landscape and weather to represent the plot and character progression, and I love how she ties the setting with the plot so closely. She paints a picture of the landscape for her readers and they get pulled into the story along with the characters.
In addition to the predictability of the plot and the trope-ish (almost one-dimensional) nature of most of the characters, I just think I was uncomfortable with the ending because it was such a parallel of the situation with Mary's aunt marrying her uncle. Of course, that may have been the point of that ending, and the readers were supposed to feel that way. Still, I think I just felt like there was so much that was unknown. On the surface, it's a happy ending, but I can't help but feel like there's something ominous lurking beneath that happy ending. It speaks to the talent of the author to achieve that feeling, and at the same time, just give me my happily ever after lol!
3.5 stars
Compared to Rebecca, I think that I much preferred Rebecca. I saw in a review that someone said Daphne du Maurier takes common book genres and makes them ~spooky (so like Rebecca was a murder mystery/thriller and Jamaica Inn was romance) - since I pretty much never read romance and don't prefer it, that would make sense as to why I preferred Rebecca. I also felt that this book was much more predictable. I sort of knew halfway through who the main villain would end up being and what would happen at the end more or less - not all the details, of course, but still the jist of the matter, and I was pretty much right. The characters all felt very trope-y, as opposed to her other more memorable characters (thinking of Mrs. Danvers, of course). I never felt truly engaged in the plot and sort of just didn't...care what happened to the main character.
Still, if there's one thing she is good at, it is bringing the gothic atmosphere to life. Her descriptions of the moors and landscape is spot on, and she turns it basically into another character of the book. She uses the landscape and weather to represent the plot and character progression, and I love how she ties the setting with the plot so closely. She paints a picture of the landscape for her readers and they get pulled into the story along with the characters.
In addition to the predictability of the plot and the trope-ish (almost one-dimensional) nature of most of the characters, I just think I was uncomfortable with the ending because it was such a parallel of the situation with Mary's aunt marrying her uncle. Of course, that may have been the point of that ending, and the readers were supposed to feel that way. Still, I think I just felt like there was so much that was unknown. On the surface, it's a happy ending, but I can't help but feel like there's something ominous lurking beneath that happy ending. It speaks to the talent of the author to achieve that feeling, and at the same time, just give me my happily ever after lol!
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Really liked it! But fyi it's not in Jamaica so don't expect a tropical getaway during a winter storm. XD My mistake for not reading the description thoroughly. lol
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Mi Zhen reacted with :smile:
Absolutely loved this book. Wasn’t sure it would be something I’d like but enjoyed every minute
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