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Return to Book Page. The Book Collector by Alice Thompson. Alice Thompson's new novel is a gothic story of book collecting, mutilation and madness. Violet is obsessed with the books of fairy tales her husband acquires, but her growing delusions see her confined in an asylum. As she recovers and is released a terrifying series of events is unleashed.
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Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Start your review of The Book Collector. Oct 22, Lotte rated it really liked it Shelves: release , a-fiction , ge-gothic-horror , ge-magical-realism , x-chronically-underrated , read.
With echoes of books such as The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter, this reads like a creepy fairytale-esque parable about madness and one's man obsession with collecting. Sometimes the writing style felt a little stilted, but other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this! View 2 comments. Nov 01, shakespeareandspice rated it liked it Shelves: scifi-n-fantasy , fabulist-fiction.
This book continuously makes me recall the experiences of The Yellow Wallpaper and Rebecca. I liked that while just telling a very entertaining story, the book also explores some of the darker sides of both sexes.
It reaches beyond just the surface and digs into some very serious and deep fears. Some of the scenes are actually squirm-worthy, which made for an all the This book continuously makes me recall the experiences of The Yellow Wallpaper and Rebecca. Some of the scenes are actually squirm-worthy, which made for an all the more enjoyable read. Nevertheless, I also clearly had some disappointments with the novel. One of which is that while the story held me intrigued for the majority of the novel, when it was teetering on the edge of revealing its secrets, I guessed everything that was going on before the story even reached the climax.
So clearly in the suspense department, this novel is blatantly obvious. Secondly, I also found the author did a poor job of establishing the main character in the beginning. Some things are easier said then done, I learned. But I still stand beside my rating that I did quite like this book. It has some very gruesome, dark and delicious moments as well as some very interesting themes. Trigger warning : the novel does have some scenes of torture on women.
View 1 comment. In the end, the cover was what I liked most about it. Personally, I found this novel was lacking something. To begin with, I was really enjoying this novel and the story of Alice, her mysterious husband, and the book of fairytales. I did feel the chapters were a little all over the place but that was all part of the parcel and I was excited to see where the story was going next. Unfortunately, after a while, the story became a little bit lacklustre and I found my interest in the book slipping.
The story was wide open, clear for you to see what was happening and what was going to happen next. It just felt that with each chapter the story was skipping important parts of the development.
In the end, I feel like I read a half-finished novel. The scenery and characters were well developed but the story left me wanting more. The only problem is, as the narrative often reminds us, she doesn't know which fairytale it is The tale of The Book Collector is a familiar one, reminiscent of both the aforementioned fairytales and the classics of gothic romance.
Violet quickly marries Archie, gives birth to his son Felix, and lives contentedly, if somewhat emptily, as a wife and mother. But her life unravels when she experiences a terrifying hallucination, thinking she sees insects crawling under Felix's skin, and Archie swiftly dispatches her to the local asylum. When she returns, her baby is in the arms of a beautiful nanny named Clara, and her relationship with Archie seems irrevocably altered. That's not all, though: the narrative is punctuated by sharp and shocking episodes depicting the murder and dismemberment of young women.
Slowly but surely, The Book Collector piles mystery on mystery. Who is the woman in the photograph Archie hides in amongst his papers? Why does he keep a book of fairytales that theme again locked in his safe? Most of all, how are the fates of the butchered girls tied to Violet's situation?
But The Book Collector is not to be mistaken for one of those controversial, twisted retellings; in fact, it's curious how little it does to subvert the traditional narrative. Violet questions her situation, but rarely thinks of breaking free, and is convinced of Archie's superior intellect and the legitimacy of his power over her.
Equally, no reader is likely to be surprised by the identity of the killer. Thompson's modifications are more subtle: a brutal flash of violence here, an anachronistic reference to a 'surrealist painting' there the story is supposedly set in the Edwardian era. These touches seem deliberately designed to disconcert the reader, making everything about Violet's world seem a little off-kilter.
This is a perfect book to inspire discussion and debate. It instantly calls to mind a plethora of influences and comparisons: the gothic romance of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca ; the terrifying fate of the wife in The Yellow Wall-Paper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman; Angela Carter's feminist updates of fairytales.
Personally I found Violet too cold to inspire any sympathy, but Thompson's straightforward, no-frills style feels refreshing - a welcome contrast to the usual ornate lushness of gothic prose. The Book Collector is an elegant reworking of an overworked genre, handled with grace and restraint. I received an advance review copy of The Book Collector from Nudge.
I wasn't paid for this review and I was under no obligation to be anything other than honest about what I thought of the book. For Violet her new life and then the birth of her son make her feel like someone whose romantic dreams have come true. All of those small details that play a major part in establishing time and place are absent. This gripped me, despite the numerous awkward, clumsily-written passages. Ultimately a lot of the ideas seemed stale and the ending was too contrived, as well as heavily signposted.
And to be fair Thompson seems to be making a wider point, not very forcefully, about "male" forms of knowledge and the exploitation of women. Oct 11, Rachel rated it really liked it Shelves: , horror , gothic. A delightfully creepy novella that's reminiscent of du Maurier's Rebecca , and which does a terrific job of exploring gender roles in fairy tales.
The writing at times is a bit simplistic and the plot rather predictable, but for the gothic and sinister atmosphere I really enjoyed reading this. I'm honestly surprised to see that no one on Goodreads has rated this book less than three stars, because I thought it was The writing felt almost amateuristic surprisingly, because this is by no means Thompsons first novel , the characters were paper-thin and the plot was predictable from start to finish.
I enjoyed the creepy atmosphere and the fairytale references, but I feel like it could have been so much more in the hands of a different author. I doubt I would have finished th I'm honestly surprised to see that no one on Goodreads has rated this book less than three stars, because I thought it was I doubt I would have finished the book had it not been so short.
I enjoyed reading it but the genre still isn't quite for me. However, for fans of weird fairy tales, or gothic thrillers this is certainly a good choice. The combination of its short length with too many plot elements to cover made the book feel rushed and the story sort of squeezed together.
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