‘A Dark-Adapted Eye’, by Ruth Rendell (nome-de-plume Barbara Vine)

I feel like here’s the time for the next coffee break. (Although, it’s always good time for a coffee, isn’t it?) If you have yours ready, too, we can start with the next quick review!

Discovery:

I’ve had this book on my shelves for I think years now. I bought it on a sale, but I completely forgot about it, and I was very happy to realize I have a new adventure on the shelf! Originally I chose this novel to buy because I loved the author’s other novel, ‘The Tree of Hands’.

Brainstorm:

I was very impressed by this book, though it was not as shocking as the other one mentioned above. As I’d expected from a psychological thriller, characters and the relationships between them were very well formed and developed, which I welcomed, as great characters is my personal weakness regarding books. Sometimes the story seemed to just flow so very slowly, and there were many sidetracks in the narrative, but when it almost became too much, there came a plot twist or some kind of a revelation, so it never got to the point of boring. Actually, this kind of slow storytelling helped making the atmosphere that helps you understand what happened and why. The ending gave less closure than I expected, and my first instinct was to be bothered about it, but as I was thinking and processing everything, I realized it was good this way. It made the story more realistic.

Let’s give it a grade!

Story: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Style: 5/5
The Subjective Factor: 5/5

GPA: 5

Uniqueness:

Even though I enjoyed this book, and rated it high, I am not sure if it’s any different than books usually are in its category. Or at least I can’t point my finger to anything specific that’s truly unique. It’s truly a masterpiece of its genre, though, and I also think the author is recognizable by her words.

Recommend to:

Those who like psychology, or are interested in the silent workings of the human soul… and how the people in our lives affect us. Those crime story fans who love the “how it happened”, “what led to it” part at least as much as figuring out “who did it”. Don’t read this book, if you want clear and definite answers! Only if you can accept that sometimes answers are less important than the journey you (and the characters) make.

Drink tip:

Tea. With milk. The good ol’ English way. (Even though I don’t really like it.)

Music room:

Any classical strings music… mostly slower ones.

Future:

I am definitely going to read more novels by this author. (She has a ton. Yay!) Even a re-read in some years is possible.

I’ve just figured out as I was wandering around the internet that Ruth Rendell died 3 years ago. Somehow I didn’t know about that… She had an impressive life’s work, not only regarding her writing, but also her social activism. Let’s pay her tribute by commenting if you read something she wrote and talking about how it made you feel, what you think about her novels!

I hope this review and the coffee made your day a little better! 😉

See you next time! (Don’t forget to follow/subscribe!)

Hugs 🙂