Reviews tagging 'Miscarriage'

Magpie by Elizabeth Day

82 reviews

bumble_abi's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

you can tell I'm not having a great time with my mental health because I'm reading mass market thrillers again 

this is blurbed as 'the most mind-blowing book of the year' which is the kind of hyperbole that can only set a book up for a fall. Marisa and her lovely boyfriend move in together and try to start a family, but Marisa is increasingly disturbed by the behaviour of their solicitous and overfamiliar lodger, Kate. There's a decent twist in this but it occurs only about a third of the way into the book, and then the rest is the long unraveling of how we got to that point, followed by a slightly too tidy ending.

This truly did feel like a book of two halves - the first half is great, tense and confusing and addictive, but it peaks too early and doesn't leave enough meat for the second half. There's not enough depth to any of it to justify its ultimate meandering. There's a (not graphic - the narrative voice just tells you it happened) rape scene which didn't have very much of a purpose in the plot except as a shortcut to creating a character who is unstable, which felt unnecessary and distasteful. I enjoyed it well enough but wouldn't rush to recommend.
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stagasaurus's review against another edition

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medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

2.5

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velvet_young's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.0

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hollymileham's review against another edition

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dark 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? Yes

4.5

such an interesting exploration of all the different complexities of motherhood, the twists in this blew my mind. defo lying if you say you predicted any part of this
rating 4 stars tho bc i feel like the ending was a bit optimistic for such an intense book
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lucyyybee's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? No

2.5

This book… Um, don’t know where to start. It was boring, exciting plot twist, back to boring. But within all the boring was also just confusion.
Evil MIL who played small role in book ends up being the biggest issue? Somehow thinking the woman with bipolar / schizophrenia who tried to kill her sons girlfriend was a better fit for her son. Mind you, she’s very stuck up and uppity. So that makes no sense as her son is “perfect” and she would otherwise see Marisa as very flawed.
Also paints mental illness in an odd way. I don’t know. I forced myself through it hoping for a good ending. I was let down. 
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curlydanreads's review against another edition

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

3.5

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anamarquina's review against another edition

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

3.75

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franticfreya's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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elagrand's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This was a book of two halves for me. The first half took me a while to get into, there was a few moments of confusion and boredom but as soon as we turned the page to the second half I was all in. Some twists and turns to keep it interesting, some lovable and consoling characters to warm to, and the mental health issues and infertility journey was done with compassion and empathy that made it so heartbreaking to read.

I have enjoyed this book and would recommend to others, but would probably warn them that it may take some time to warm up to it… but it’s worth it. 
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alittlebitofjessica's review against another edition

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

3.5

A good read with some twists, very good use of different perspectives as well to show the story - story kept the pace well and didn’t feel too long!
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