Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Spitting Gold by Carmella Lowkis

4 reviews

itsheyfay's review

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Child death, Murder, Violence, Abandonment, and Outing

Moderate: Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Confinement, Medical content, Vomit, Classism, Death of parent, and Cancer

Minor: Infidelity, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, and Rape

caseythereader's review

dark emotional mysterious 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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Lesbophobia, Murder, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Cancer, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Classism, and Medical content

Minor: Rape and Suicide

lornography's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

This well told gothic fairy tale is a cautionary story of what comes of actions based on appearances.

Set in Paris during the mid-to-late 19th century, we experience love, vengeance and redemption through the eyes of two estranged spiritist sisters. There is Sherlockian mystery combined with Shakespearean tragedy and all the tropes of the Victorian era.

The character development is on point, you care deeply about the focal ladies and their grande plights (with a side of sapphic wooing and cooing that is delightfully coquettish). The settings are portrayed in such detail that they play out during the reading experience as if watching a compelling mind-movie. While more Parisian flair could have possibly added to the book’s supernatural mystique, in all, Spitting Gold is easily a highly recommended novel full of heart-pounding suspense and heart-breaking emotion!

Much appreciation goes out to author, Carmella Lowkis, and Atria Books (Simon & Schuster) for the opportunity to experience Spitting Gold in advance of its May 14th, 2024 release.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Lesbophobia, Emotional abuse, Grief, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Child death, Child abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Violence, Dementia, Suicide, Homophobia, Sexism, Gore, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Confinement, and Kidnapping

Minor: War, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Rape, Colonisation, and Suicide attempt

camillessi's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.75

((More coherent review to come closer to publication date. E-galley received through Edelweiss.))

This was an enjoyable gothic read that was a breeze to get through. The tension stayed consistent, making me want to read more, without feeling overbearing. However, because the comparison to Sarah Waters is what caught my eye in the beginning, I found myself a little more critical than I might have been otherwise.

The prose flowed well, but sometimes felt inconsistent. Sometimes it would be drawn-out and flowery, or feeling very of-the-era. Other times, it would read quite modern and simple. Neither is bad, but the inconsistency sometimes drew me out of the story.

The characters also fell a little flat for me. I could see and understand what the story was trying to do with the two sisters, but I never felt like I could hold on to one thing about them. I wasn't always convinced by what we were being told about them—possibly because much of the time, we were being told things about them rather than seeing it.

But all in all, this book was exactly what it said on the tin: a twisty gothic historical novel with a sapphic romance. I would recommend it for readers of Penner & Waters, but perhaps more for the basics of the story, and not necessarily the writing style. I'm also happy to have another historical sapphic novel to add to the slowly-growing list.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Confinement, Terminal illness, Child death, Death of parent, and Homophobia

Minor: Suicide