Rebecca in Crazy Challenge Connection

Jul 09, 2017 Cecily Black rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I was not expecting to like it as much as I did, usually classics for me don't turn out well, probably because there is so much hype around them and also they are also Historical which is also not one of my Go To genres.
I really enjoyed the story and how it unfolded! I liked the conclusion and I am glad that I gave it a chance and read it!
Great Classic!! ...more

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Mar 29, 2018 Jenn G rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2018, 4-stars, own, audiobooks

I had a hard time getting into it at the beginning but once I got used to the writing style it was better. I didn't see the twist coming and was very surprised by it but the last 100 pages were very slow and long! I really liked the ending too. ...more

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Oct 08, 2021 Keli rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: i-wanted-to-like-it-more, now-i-know-what-the-hype-was-about

Synopsis- On a trip to the South of France, the shy heroine of Rebecca falls in love with Maxim de Winter, a handsome widower. Although his proposal comes as a surprise, she happily agrees to marry him. But as they arrive at her husband's home, Manderley, a change comes over Maxim, and the young bride is filled with dread. Friendless in the isolated mansion, she realises that she barely knows him. In every corner of every room is the phantom of his beautiful first wife, Rebecca, and the new Mrs Synopsis- On a trip to the South of France, the shy heroine of Rebecca falls in love with Maxim de Winter, a handsome widower. Although his proposal comes as a surprise, she happily agrees to marry him. But as they arrive at her husband's home, Manderley, a change comes over Maxim, and the young bride is filled with dread. Friendless in the isolated mansion, she realises that she barely knows him. In every corner of every room is the phantom of his beautiful first wife, Rebecca, and the new Mrs de Winter walks in her shadow.

This haunting 20th century classic is perfect for the teenage market. Rebecca, Jamaica Inn and Frenchman's Creek are now available for the first time in YA editions.

Review- I wanted to like this so much more, but alas, I can only give it three stars. The story is brilliant. Though it was very slow in the first 2/3, it was wonderfully evocative and atmospheric. So much of my reading is genre formulaic. Clearly, I don't mind that as I still read the same genres over and over. But it is ever so refreshing to get a new story beautifully told. Du Maurier's writing is lush and descriptive, you can practically smell the flowers there's such detail. Manderley was brought to life, it almost became a character itself. Almost.
I enjoyed this aspect of the book. Actually, I enjoyed everything about the book except our narrator. Can I get an "ugh" for Mrs de Winter Two? She was infuriating in her insipidness. She is the very definition of milquetoast. How fortunate for her that Maxim needed the most bland, crippling shy, uneager, insecure, possibly dim-witted, and plain woman on the planet. He needed the opposite of his first wife, I get that, but my god she was a bore. She was hard work. She took so much out of me with her ceaseless insecurity. The pages of conversations and happenings all imagined in her head were seriously tiresome. It was hard to push through sometimes and finish the chapter. 😪😪😴
Though the story moved much quicker in the last third, Mrs de Winter (living) never got any better. I had to take a whole star off for her.

Rating - Three lush and atmospheric stars. ⭐⭐⭐

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Devoured the book, couldn't put it down.
⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Really liked it, consumed within days
⭐⭐⭐ - Enjoyed a fair bit, better than average
⭐⭐ - Meh
⭐ - Absolute drivel ...more

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Dec 03, 2016 Tina rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: best-read-in-2018

For many years I've been listening and reading how Rebecca is an outstanding book! At the same time, I want to hear about the story itself as little as possible, that the reading will be more interesting. And finally I borrow it! Written in 1938, my translation was published in 1966.

The beginning is quite unusual. I'm thrown into the story, I do not know what I'm really reading. Distinctly narrative, gothic style. Will this story be so special to me as well? It can happen that I will not be so f ...more

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Jun 29, 2020 Lindsey rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, 1900-1950, thriller

Absolutely amazing classic thriller. My only regret is that I hadn't read it sooner. Manderley, perched at the edge of the sea, was the perfect setting for this suspenseful mystery. ...more

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Nov 17, 2020 Jess Penhallow rated it it was amazing

Shelves: uk, 1930s, boxall-s

This was so good! One of those rare books where I'm in the position where I want to devour it but also to slow down so that it doesn't end. The setting, the characters, the plot. Going into any specifics would do this novel a disservice so I will merely gush!

My first du Maurier, certainly not my last. ...more

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Jun 17, 2021 Maggie Shanley rated it did not like it · review of another edition

I found this slow and plodding, for the first part of the book I thought it was going to be a novel of manners (which I find very boring) but then when the story moved to Manderly things changed, many assumptions were made and the story plodded on and on. Even the mystery was never really a mystery and what was the reader to hope for?

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