Book Review: Rebecca

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Genres: Classic, Fiction, Mystery 

Pages: 431

So, I finally turned the last page of “Rebecca” by Daphne du Maurier. It’s been gathering dust on my reading list for what seemed like an eternity. I know this novel is a favorite of many, but unfortunately, I’m not one of them.

I’m pretty sure I belong to the minority who found this book a bit overhyped. To be honest, I had super high expectations for this book because of all the love it gets. However, it failed to meet my expectations miserably, leaving me sort of disappointed.

To me, “Rebecca” is just an average classic that’s even a little mundane. I tried so bad to adore it like everyone does, but sadly, I struggled to fall in love with it. I’m not sure if the novel was really boring or if I’m just too hard to please.

To be fair, the writing style of du Maurier is undeniably gorgeous. However, the plot itself, to put it bluntly, is a bit dull. It took me ages to finish it. The author really took her time writing detailed descriptions which makes the whole reading experience tedious for fast-paced narrative fans like me.

As for the plot, it was okay and passable, I guess. Not exactly my cup of tea for a classic tho. I think it’s weird how the protagonist feels empowered all of a sudden after her husband makes that confession about Rebecca. This part felt out of place since she’s been naïve and helpless all the time. Yet, I was convinced that the author was gonna reveal the heroine’s name at this moment as a turning point in her character development. But nope, I was wrong, Mrs. de Winter remained nameless till the end, leaving me feeling somewhat betrayed.

And the worst thing about this novel is, without a doubt, Mrs. Danvers. Ugh, she’s the worst. Seriously, she got on my nerves, and I hope I never meet people like her in real life.

All in all, “Rebecca” was okay, except that the story could’ve been way shorter in like less than 250 pages or so without losing its essence. I give it 2 out of 5 stars cause I managed to go through it till the end despite taking forever to finish.

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