I was in two minds about whether to read this novel or not but I was swayed by seeing so many positive reviews.
Book Description:
Marion Zetland lives with her domineering older brother, John in a decaying Georgian townhouse on the edge of a northern seaside resort. A timid spinster in her fifties who still sleeps with teddy bears, Marion does her best to shut out the shocking secret that John keeps in the cellar.
Until, suddenly, John has a heart attack and Marion is forced to go down to the cellar herself and face the gruesome truth that her brother has kept hidden.
As questions are asked and secrets unravel, maybe John isn’t the only one with a dark side.
My Thoughts:
I have to be the reviewer that goes against the grain on this one – The Visitors has garnered some fantastic early reviews, but it was not the book for me. I’d read a lot of reviews prior to reading this book so I was under no illusions before starting this novel; many reviews had stated this is not a fast-paced thrill ride, but more of a slow-paced character study. I am in agreement with that, I have enjoyed a few slower paced novels lately and I enjoy a good character study so I opted to read this one.
My main issue with this novel was it felt like it was on a loop – three quarters of this novel was ‘incident where Marion was made to feel low’ after ‘incident where Marion was made to feel low’ on repeat. Now ordinarily this wouldn’t bother me as each incident was different, but I felt like after each incident we didn’t learn anything new about Marion. From the blurb – “A timid spinster in her fifties who still sleeps with teddy bears” – the reader can gather an idea of the kind of character Marion is and after a few incidences were described from Marion’s childhood and adult life, her character study was complete, I felt there was no need to continue showcasing more incidences as we already knew Marion’s character.
The same was true of the John, he mistreated Marion, and we got to know his character very early on so there was no need to continue showcasing examples of it. Now usually this build-up of repetitive information works if you’re leading up to a plot twist or reveal; but again, once you started reading this novel, if you can’t make an educated guess from the blurb, the “gruesome truth that her brother has kept hidden” comes as no surprise at all. It felt a bit like the majority of this novel could have been told in a chapter or two.
Yes, I like my novels dark and The Visitors is a dark novel, but I felt it was also surface level, the psyche of the characters was never truly explored indepth. When I read a character study, I like to remain thinking about that character, be shocked or appalled, have some kind of reaction but here it all felt rather bland. There were definitely themes of misplaced loyalty and evilness but it just didn’t come to life in the way I’d hoped. There was no creepy atmosphere, no unsettled vibes, I wasn’t disturbed by the characters in anyway.
I did like the ending, mainly because it was a different “incident” to all those explained earlier on but it didn’t come as a surprise. I do like the fact that Burns didn’t change the pace, tone or tempo when she told this part of the plot – if I had enjoyed the earlier part of the novel, I think it would have been one of those endings that’s great because it feels like the author wasn’t trying to be great but simply telling you what happened and by default it was great [I hope that makes sense]. You know sometimes, events can feel forced in a novel, nothing felt forced here and I appreciate that, even though the novel did not hold my interest.
Unfortunately, I can’t, in good confidence, recommend this novel. It will certainly appeal to some readers but this was not the book for me.
This book is available to buy from: Amazon UK / Book Depository
It’s a shame to hear you didn’t like this one. I adored it and have given it 5 stars for my review. I completely understand why this novel won’t be for a lot of people though 🙂
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It was seeing you give it five stars that swayed me completely into reading it! Haha,
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My bad! 😛
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Haha at least now I’m no longer questing whether I should read it or not so it’s freed up some space in my mind 😂
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I went against the grain this week with a review as well! Sometimes stories and writing just don’t work and I thought you explained fairly and honestly why this one didn’t work for you. I think I would’ve felt the same about the repetition throughout
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The more I think about it, I think it’s extremely hard to write a ‘character study book’ 🤔 I feel bad when I go against the grain but I love reading other reviews that do 😂
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I agree with you on this one.
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*phew* glad to know I’m not alone on this one!
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Great review! I’m beginning to realise that I enjoy more plot based books rather than character based ones, so I’ll give this a miss.
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Thank you. I really enjoy character studies but I have been let down by a few of them so I’m coming to think they are incredibly hard to write well 🤔
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Totally agree!
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Oh man! I am about a chapter into this one and am bummed to hear you didn’t like it! I wonder where I will be on the spectrum for this one.
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DM me as you read and let me know lol
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Oh, you know I’ll be all over that!!
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I’m going into it feeling much the same as you did….reading some great reviews..although this is not my typical read. I plan to read it early in Oct. So we shall see!
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I look forward to seeing what you make of it 🙂
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Although I wound up rating this a 4, I can totally understand where you’re coming from on this!
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It’s one I wanted to love but I just didn’t 🙁
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It happens 🤷♀️
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Great review – very balanced! sorry it wasn’t quite for you, though!
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Thank you, FOMO is so strong but at least I’m no longer worrying about whether I want to read this one or not lol
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It’s such a shame that people have been put off reading The Visitors because of this review. I thought it was an excellent read, very clever plot with extremely unlikable characters. I can understand it might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I really would recommend giving it a go.
PS – I personally didn’t notice the repetition.
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I’m glad you enjoyed it, but not every book can be for everyone, and I’ve used my blog space to share my honest thoughts on my reading experience. I know of several others who felt the same as me, and several others who loved it – that’s the beauty of books, everyone has differing opinions.
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