Reviews - The Red Widow: The Scandal that Shook Paris and the Woman Behind it All

21 reviews for:

The Red Widow: The Scandal that Shook Paris and the Woman Behind it All

Sarah Horowitz

3.68 AVERAGE

mezaphorically's review

3.75

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

Read an advanced reader's copy.

A book that is reflective and informative, but also rather tedious and over-clarifying at times. I appreciate the lengths Horowitz goes to detail all of the different takes, arguments, and minutiae while also tying them directly to issues that manifest in our own modern world. However, the writing can often be repetitive and may present two sets of information; two possibilities that aren't nearly as different as the author seems to think they are outside of a fleeting nuance. It is a book I'd like to re-read at some point, however, as it was very enlightening in regards to Parisian society and how old ideas have clung so strongly to that which is considered "new." A worthwhile read. Expect to take notes to keep things straight!

rosebrand's review

3.0

dark informative slow-paced

glofaro47's review

3.0

Fascinating read. Enjoyed it a lot but there are better biographies out there. Too many characters and names in this one to keep it all straight and timelines were slightly confusing.

ketsueki_randi's review

I wanna first preface this by saying this DNF had nothing to do with how the biography was written. Sarah Horowitz does a great job at providing not only a well researched story on an unreliable character, but also providing the reader context about the societal norms for the time period.

That being said, I really hated Meg. It'd be one thing if she had done a bunch of dumb and reckless shit when she was young; but it's the complete opposite for me. I had more respect for Meg when she was a teen than I did for her as an adult. Teenage Meg just wanted to fall in love and not be confined to the strict societal norms of the bourgeoisie (also more than likely groomed by her father and possibly sexually abused by him); adult Meg was a homophobic, xenophobic, "I'm not like other girls" pain in the ass who was desperate to climb the social ladder. Honestly, based off the start of the book (where we're introduced with the murder of her husband and mother), I figured that was the icing on the cake, but it just seems to keep going and honestly I don't really care about Meg trying to blame every minority for her husband's death.

There's a good chance I will finish this book (because I'm over halfway done and quite a lot of the pages seem to be credits and Horowitz citing her sources) on audio rather than reading the ebook.