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Palace of the Drowned by Christine Mangan

Palace of the Drowned

by Christine Mangan

  • Critics' Consensus (0):
  • Published:
  • Jun 2021, 320 pages
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There are currently 25 member reviews
for Palace of the Drowned
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  • Beverly D. (Palm Harbor, FL)
    I have issues
    Atmospheric and eerie thanks to the pitch perfect depiction of Venice off season. The barely likable main character, Frankie and her relationships with Jack, Leonard and, above all Gilly seem contrived to me. Her indecision regarding these friends changed with each new chapter. The pacing seemed to drag in the middle though I did finish to see how the story resolved...(not a surprise ending). My main issue however is I felt I had read this storyline before: young author befriends older author whose latest efforts failed to live up to expectations, "mayhem " ensues, young author's manuscript becomes latest offering of older author...
    A disappointing read.
  • Samantha H. (Golden, CO)
    Not compelling
    Palace of the Drowned was not a compelling read for me. I was never able to develop any sympathy for the characters. I found them shallow and uninteresting which made me lose interest in the plot about halfway through the novel. The author did make an effort to set the scene with interesting descriptions of Venice. But that alone could not save this book. This was not my favorite read.
  • Martha S. (Mentor, OH)
    Palace of the Drowned
    I feel I need to state from the beginning that I did not like this novel. I wanted to, but I just didn't. The main characters and there were really only five, didn't grab me. I thought the time frame would interest me (1966), the location of the novel (Venice), and the main character's career (writing novels). Nope, nothing. I still didn't completely understand what the main character (Frankie) did to bring on her breakdown. Yes, there was a twist at the end which helped clear up some questions. As the book dragged on, towards the end, it started to be more interesting but in the end it was just depressing
  • Barbara H. (Thomasville, GA)
    A disjointed read!
    I was disappointed in this novel and certainly did not find it to be anywhere near "a juicy thriller". I just could not get a good read on this novel - literally or figureatively....too many things left undone, unsaid, the plot tending to be unatainable. I could never get a good feel on any of the characters - and seemed that whenever the book was about to "go somewhere" instead it would move on to another venue leaving one confused and floundering. Issues were left unattended to and left hanging and the characters were left unfinished.
    The timeperiod seemed more like a millenial novel rather than taking place in 1966. - Just not my cup of tea!

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