Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce

4 reviews

cassielaj's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book is delightful. There’s so much more to the story than the blurb suggested — nuanced characters and universal themes wrapped up in a wildly entertaining story. Loved it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Blood, Murder, Violence, Gun violence, Miscarriage, War, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Colonisation, and Animal death

Moderate: Suicide, Colonisation, Excrement, Death, Death of parent, and Cursing

alayamorning's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Excrement, Gun violence, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Self harm, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, Vomit, and Murder

Moderate: Misogyny and Grief

berodatheelf's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A great story about the power of female friendship

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Death, Death of parent, Excrement, Gore, Gun violence, Medical content, Miscarriage, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Suicide, and Vomit

bookstolivewith's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce follows the story of Margery Benson as she sets out to do what no one ever thought she would: find the Golden Beetle of New Caledonia. Encountering a new setback in every direction, she is accompanied by Enid Pretty, who, despite her bright personality, has a “pretty” big secret. So will they find the beetle, or was this all just too much for Margery to handle? (TW: suicide, miscarriage, death, stalking & PTSD.)

I was not initially loving this one and it took me a while to get into. However, I ended up really enjoying the overall story because of how it addresses (Western) womanhood — its assumptions and expectations vs its realities and desires, for the most part. This book is populated with different “types” of women and you really feel for most of them, even when they do something horrible. Even the men in this book are affected by this expected role of (British or Western) womanhood, and the story shows how men are done a disservice by expected gender roles, especially in the wake of a traumatic world war.

It’s not the best book I’ve ever read but it is totally different from what I expected and different from other things I’ve been reading lately. It’s a love story between self and others, as well as a story about women learning to love other women, forgiving their transgressions and the strength women have to move forward (maybe juxtaposed against men who are stuck in the past? I don’t know, that may be too analytical).

If you’re looking for something different that’s also a bit of a woman empowerment book, this might be for you! I think this is probably also a great book for book clubs, as there’s lots to discuss. Miss Benson’s Beetle out November 3rd (but it’ll still be there post-election)!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Miscarriage, Death, and Animal death

Moderate: Blood, Excrement, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Violence, and Vomit

Minor: Sexism and Misogyny