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lizisreadingagain's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I’m very fond of letter writing, so when ongoing correspondence is an element in a story, it has my attention. This book had plenty of it.
I really loved the story, the people, and the literary atmosphere, and I was prepared to say it’s probably the best book I’ll read this year. So what has me torn? It’s the way Joy was portrayed. I felt uncomfortable at times. The book is written in Joy’s voice, and as she begins realizing she’s in love with Jack, the descriptions of her feelings and thoughts were sensual. It was clear that she wanted to be intimate with him. After a couple of these descriptions, I checked the back of the book to make sure it was a Christian publisher. It seemed out of place to me and unnecessary. There was enough information to know she was in love with him without inserting the sensual. I know I’m quite conservative and understand that other readers will not be bothered by it at all.
I want to give 5 stars for the storytelling but pull back for this bit of content that bugs me. I guess I’ll land on 4 stars.
Content Warnings:
🙊: Mild language
❤️: Several sensual descriptions, and one brief married intimacy scene without graphic descriptions
⚠️: Emotional abuse, infidelity, frequent alcohol consumption
Moderate: Infidelity and Medical trauma
Minor: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Antisemitism, and Alcohol
bethlee's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Antisemitism
author2223's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Cancer, Domestic abuse, and Infidelity
Moderate: Alcoholism, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Gaslighting
kfrickle's review
Moderate: Infidelity
Minor: Suicide
momloves2read's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, and Infidelity
amberjackonski's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Infidelity
theespressoedition's review
- 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? It's complicated
2.5
I'm rather glad I didn't read this book sooner. I've had it on my TBR for several years now and if I had picked it up last summer as I planned, I may not have ever given Once Upon a Wardrobe a try. They are so incredibly different it's almost startling. Instead, while I was disappointed that I didn't like this book as much, I'm at least glad that I got a chance to enjoy the other title first!
I've always been fascinated by C.S. Lewis. The Chronicles of Narnia were what fueled my love for reading and piqued my interest in fantasy. Reading this book gave me a lot of insight into Joy, his wife, and their lives. What it didn't give me was a lot of joy, if you get my drift? Not only was the pacing absolutely painfully slow at times, but the subject matter was dense and sad for the majority of the book. Instead of focusing on the good parts of their life, it focused a lot on the truly depressing nature of Joy's previous marriage and all of the hard times that followed.
While this is marked "historical fiction," I'm truly not sure what about it was fictional. It read like a biography more than it did like a story. Around the 25% point of the audiobook (on 2.8x speed, mind you), I thought, "Okay, I can't have much further to go, right?" I was bored stiff while reading this, unfortunately. I really wanted to enjoy it more, but just couldn't get into it. If I weren't such a stickler when it comes to reading, I would've DNF'd based on my interest in it - or really, lack thereof.
Well, now I know everything I could have possibly wanted (or not wanted) to know about C.S. Lewis and his wife, their bizarre relationship that took way too long to even happen, and how much I actually don't really care for either of them as people now. Yikes.
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Infidelity
Moderate: Cancer and Chronic illness
Minor: Misogyny and War
chloewakham's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Cancer, Infidelity, and Alcohol
Moderate: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse