Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

10 reviews

zeus_strider's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Murder, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Confinement, Toxic friendship, Death, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Rape, and Misogyny

Minor: Child death, Abortion, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Blood, and Abandonment

maddramaqueen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Death, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Confinement, Homophobia, Rape, Sexism, Grief, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, Classism, Drug use, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Toxic friendship, Outing, Ableism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Body shaming, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Cursing, Mental illness, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, and Fatphobia

directorpurry's review

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Confinement, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Mental illness, and Racial slurs

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Child death

kpwxx's review against another edition

medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Torture, Violence, Abandonment, Ableism, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Outing, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Pregnancy, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Child death, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Minor: Dementia, Deportation, Stalking, Abortion, and Eating disorder

emfass's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Death, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Bullying, Child abuse, Sexism, Violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, Domestic abuse, and Misogyny

Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Sexual content, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Child death, and Trafficking

Minor: Religious bigotry

marthadude's review

dark inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Sexual content

Moderate: Religious bigotry

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

There's a point in the book where a character seems like they are being forced into a nonconsensual marriage, and, therefore, rape by proxy, but this is later revealed to not be the case.

adrinthesky's review

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization and Medical trauma

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Misogyny, and Murder

Minor: Rape and Toxic relationship

bethsbookshelf's review

dark funny mysterious tense slow-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

plot - 8
writing - 9
pace - 3
world building - 6
characters - 7
diversity - 7
ending - 8
enjoyment - 7

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence

sherbertwells's review

adventurous emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

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

3.0

“My name, in those days, was Susan Trinder” 

When the leader of my local GSA suggested reading Sarah Waters’ novel Fingersmith, her one-word pitch was “Dickensian.” After reading the book, I find this comparison less than apt: what makes a book “Dickensian” in the first place? The weird names? The reversals of fortune and revelations of inheritance? The emphasis on morality? Fingersmith has all of those and more.

But despite his authorial virtues, Charles Dickens could not have written Fingersmith for the simple reason that it’s too gay for his Vicotrian sensibilities. The novel’s premise—an experienced criminal named “Gentleman” recruits a naïve girl for the con of a lifetime—is a mere tchotchke in Dickens’ wheelhouse. But none of his corseted (albeit progressive) stories would allow Susan Trinder and Maud Lilly to fall in love. Nor would they be written from Sue’s earnest, slangy first-person perspective. The credit for this style belongs entirely to Sarah Waters, the Welsh novelist who has made queer historical fiction her bread and butter.

Known for sapphic Victorian adventures like Tipping the Velvet and Affinity, Waters expands on the best aspect of Dickens: his combination of humor and empathy. Her characters, especially Sue and the maternal fence Mrs. Sucksby, are surprisingly nuanced and she includes lots of writerly flourishes that make the reading experience enjoyable. Take the scene where Gentleman teaches Sue how to “dress” a chair:

“He squatted at the side of the chair and smoothed his fingers over the bullying skirts; then he dipped his hand beneath them, reaching high into the layers of silk. He did it so neatly, it looked to me as if he knew his way, all right; and as he reached higher his cheek grew pink, the silk gave a rustle, the crinoline bucked, the chair quivered hard upon the kitchen floor, the joints of its legs faintly shrieking. Then it was still” (34)

Sexy, right?*

Besides the desire for queer representation, the main draw of Waters’ books is their author. Like Dickens, Sarah Waters is a brand—but not one I’m terribly interested in buying. Fingersmith is a fun story but not a particularly great one.

If you grew up on Six of Crows and are ready for something more adult or are a Useless Lesbian™ looking for a heroine like yourself, you might enjoy Fingersmith or the rest of Waters’ catalog. Her books are cool. They’re twisty. They’re gay as heck.

But don’t call them “Dickensian.”

*I have no idea if this is sexy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Violence, Blood, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Sexual content, Homophobia, and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual assault and Rape

Mrs. Sucksby runs a "baby farm," a Victorian business that cares for babies and occasionally sells them.

natalieabigail's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual content