I want to start off by saying how disappointed I am with this book, I expected it to be much better than it was and I feel really let down by it.
Overall rating – 1 star.
From the beginning I found it quite difficult to get into, it seemed like there were a lot of words (I know it’s a book but hear me out!) but it was exactly like when you’re writing an essay and trying get the word count up, you start adding in random phrases to bulk out your sentences, that’s what The Turn of the Screw was like.
The whole story was an effort to read, there were too many words trying to confuse us and scare us but in fact it was just boring. There was no indication of how much time had passed and coupled with a lack of clear structure it was really hard to visualise the story.
There was a complete lack of fear factor throughout this book, which I think is what disappointed me the most. I was expecting to feel frightened or unnerved and I just didn’t get that vibe. There was a lack of sense of foreboding that comes with a good scary story, in my opinion.
And considering our book focuses a lot on our Governess there is limited back story to her, she (quite literally) appears out of no where and into our story…
I found her to be incredibly odd, she had an unhealthy obsession with the children in her care, considering she hadn’t known them long. Unless she had… It was hard to tell without knowing how much time had passed.
As the story progressed I just found myself getting more and more confused as to how the Governess pieced everything together with limited evidence and a clear lack of rational thought. I thought she just seemed obsessive and very strange in the way she behaved throughout the story.
The Turn of the Screw was not a pleasant read for me and this was only made worse when I reached the end and felt like I’d just wasted a few hours of my life reading it.
Let me know if you’ve read The Turn of the Screw and what you thought of it!
Until next time, Em xxx
What Em's Reading 