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Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Alcohol
They can never make me hate you, Marguerite Gautier.
Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Terminal illness
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Misogyny
Graphic: Chronic illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Terminal illness, Blood
Romance (at least of this kind) is not my preferred genre, so it was hard to really fall in love with the novel. Although, there were some aspects of the story that I found compelling, not the least of which was the dignity in which Marguerite, a sex worker, was presented in a 19th century setting.
I also feel like there was a subliminal commentary on the stringent morality of the contemporary French society. Dumas fils explores whether morality can be reduced to something physical, such as one’s condition in life, and whether one even has the right to condemn another (“when have we become more strict than even Christ?”).
I found the characters quite charming, especially Marguerite, but found the language itself to have been somewhat lacklustre. Occasionally—especially in the series of letters near the end—the literature shines through.
We must have done something very wicked before we were born, or else we must be going to be very happy indeed when we are dead, for God to let this life have all the tortures of expiation and all the sorrows of an ordeal.
Overall not my favourite, but I still got something worthwhile out of it.
Graphic: Body horror, Death
Moderate: Misogyny, Grief
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol
Minor: Domestic abuse, Racism, Death of parent
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Terminal illness, Grief
Moderate: Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Classism
Minor: Animal death, Sexual content, Blood, Alcohol