Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

19 reviews

fran2567's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

Amazingly written, sometimes a bit dark, but worth to keep reading for the incredible plot. Great plottwist and development of women characters. Shows women in the complexity of who they, plays with the ‘saint’ or ‘harlot’ stereotype that tents to be put on women.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Bullying, Confinement, Domestic abuse, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Outing, Drug use, Sexual content, Self harm, Abandonment, Violence, Pregnancy, Murder, Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Lesbophobia, Abortion, Self harm, Blood, Child death, Suicide, Sexual violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pedophilia

If you have trauma of forced institutionalisation or sexual abuse by a family member, then I would not recommend this book. It does have a happy ending and the main characters reclaim their trauma.

angelacoz's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Sexual content, Bullying, and Gaslighting

Minor: Drug abuse, Murder, Torture, Cursing, Medical content, Mental illness, Classism, Toxic friendship, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

erynlasbelin's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

5.0

There aren't enough stars for this book. The writing is gorgeous: the historical elements are well done, the atmosphere is vivid, and the two protagonists have such distinct voices. All the primary characters are complex, realistic, frustrating, sympathetic - even the villains. And the twists! I can't remember the last time a novel kept me on the edge of my seat like this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Blood, Confinement, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Lesbophobia, Outing, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Grief, Ableism, Child death, and Sexual content

Minor: Body shaming, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Animal cruelty, and Homophobia

eirianz's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Quite simply, one of the most enthralling novels I have ever had the pleasure to read. I could not rip myself from the book! 

So many twists and turns; the plot unleashes emotional turbulence like nothing else. The characters are fantastic - so much depth and subtlety. The perspective-play is rewarding. 

I cannot recommend this book enough! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Bullying, Ableism, Blood, and Child abuse

georgiasummer98's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Lesbophobia

zoiejanelle's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

(another library audiobook rental) 

i definitely would have enjoyed this more if i read a physical copy, but the audiobook was also very good! 

this is a fantastic lesbian classic that really appealed to my historical fiction fan brain. the details of the culture/customs era and setting were really fun and added some levity to the darker plots. 

Sue’s perspective in parts one and the end of part three were hilarious, but the scenes at the asylum were honestly nauseating at times. Maud’s point of view was less funny, more thoughtful and romantic. I loved that she had feelings for Sue before Sue realized her own feelings. 

several of the plot twists were brutal, though i admit i spoiled many of them through impatient googling. the pacing was about right, and the romantic element kept me on my toes the entire time. although i really liked living in each character’s head, some parts did drag on and on, which is why this only gets a 4/5 from me. 

overall, i enjoyed the complexity of how each woman felt about themselves and each other, their clear motivations, their unique histories, and their satisfying, poetic ending. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Classism, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual content, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gaslighting, Confinement, Domestic abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Alcohol, Homophobia, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Ableism, Child death, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, and Grief

catherinedsharp's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

DISCLAIMER -  I read this text as a set text for university meaning I did not pick this up for myself. It does not necessarily fit my usual reading selection so my review may be rather biased.

What a read! I would probably have never picked this up for myself yet it’s become a favourite. 

Wonderful writing style with twists and turns that I didn’t see coming at all. Engaging characters and a romance with spicy bits that leave you wanting more!

Would highly recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Sexual content, Bullying, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Confinement, Gaslighting, and Violence

naiu_cs's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.5

It was quite exciting, even though it sometimes seemed to be dragged on for longer than was really necessary for the plot or the characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism

Moderate: Murder, Violence, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Cursing, Death, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Alcohol, Classism, Death of parent, Grief, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Torture

jayisreading's review against another edition

mysterious tense slow-paced

2.25

I certainly am not the first person to have picked this book up because they enjoyed The Handmaiden directed by Park Chan-wook. And, with that said, I have to admit that I actually didn’t enjoy Fingersmith as much as I thought I would. For one, I was expecting something far more fast-paced. Instead, I found myself slogging through long and slowish-paced chapters. When the twists came, it heightened the story a bit and grabbed my attention. However, the chapters in-between those twists didn’t feel particularly engaging.

Waters isn’t a bad writer by any means, but I felt that there was a lack of character development that would have gotten the reader more invested. Things happened to Maud and Sue, but… that’s really it. They reacted to certain events, but there wasn’t any significant development in their characters that made it feel this book was worth reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Sexism, Murder, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Bullying and Sexual content

Minor: Sexual assault

surelyinthefountain's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

It's good! The prose is lush and descriptive. There's this moody, claustrophobic feeling that the writing does so well -- you really get the sense that everyone's got a predestined role to play with little real agency as they rattle on towards their ultimate fates. Fortune feels like a character, and that's pretty neat.
There's a lot of content in here that's uh...pretty triggering, to say the least. Thematically, the book is in no small part about trauma -- its effects, its consequences, etc. -- so it kind of needed to be so. I don't think Waters ever goes gratuitous with it, either. But yeah, the forced institutionalization stuff in here is no joke.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, and Blood

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Bullying, Drug use, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Eating disorder

Minor: Pedophilia