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shannonmallard's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I just could not with this
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Rape
tmickey's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Child death, Animal death, Rape, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Stalking, and Murder
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Grief, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, and Misogyny
Minor: Blood and Infidelity
sarahdahlia's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault and Child death
ishrita's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Devastating portrait. While the book is a classic the lens of the author is refreshingly modern, he writes as an advocate for the protagonist as she is wronged by her own family, love and society. Wonderfully written female characters for the time its set in.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
kenz_schae's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Alcoholism
paulacalvo's review against another edition
dark
sad
slow-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault
Minor: Suicide attempt
brelynnhess's review against another edition
emotional
medium-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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Death, Sexual assault, and Rape
lostinthelibrary's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
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
4.0
It's been said by most reviewers but this book was heartbreaking. Not only because of the plight that Tess goes through but because nearly 200 years later women across the globe are still facing the same unfairness.
Although I see this book mainly as an exploration of how women's actions are policed and judged, it still touches on other subjects such as poverty, industrialisation, and rural Britain's changing face in the 19th century. And as always, it includes Hardy's lush descriptions of landscapes, settings, and weather that he is unmatched for.
Not a happy classic, but an important one nonetheless.
Although I see this book mainly as an exploration of how women's actions are policed and judged, it still touches on other subjects such as poverty, industrialisation, and rural Britain's changing face in the 19th century. And as always, it includes Hardy's lush descriptions of landscapes, settings, and weather that he is unmatched for.
Not a happy classic, but an important one nonetheless.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Alcoholism
angelbabe_cj's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Murder, and Sexism
Moderate: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Grief, Death, and Child death
Minor: Alcoholism and Death of parent
ink__and__page's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
It’s hard to review a book such as this that is so defined by social constructs of the day which are so vastly different from our world view today both culturally and societally. At first glance, this novel seems to be blaming a victim for all the misdeeds that befall her throughout the story. While I still hold that view to some degree and question some of the events of the story, such as the past abuser returning to the victim years later, using social status and money to manipulate her into needing his provisions for her and her family and a husband who abandons her and shames her for a crime she did not commit (and was a victim of!)...I can at the very least have a tad bit of understanding of the author’s intent behind this book from some information I found on spark note’s website. While it doesn’t undo the wrongs done to this character throughout the story, it perhaps sheds some light as to the reasoning behind the way the story was written.
Sharing in case anyone else is interested (following is an excerpt from sparknotes.com and not my personal writing):
Soon after Tess of the d’Urbervilles (1891) was published, its sales assured Hardy’s financial future. But the novel also aroused a substantial amount of controversy. In Tess of the d’Urbervilles and other novels, Hardy demonstrates his deep sense of moral sympathy for England’s lower classes, particularly for rural women. He became famous for his compassionate, often controversial portrayal of young women victimized by the self-righteous rigidity of English social morality. Perhaps his most famous depiction of such a young woman is in Tess of the d’Urbervilles. This novel and the one that followed it, Jude the Obscure (1895), engendered widespread public scandal with their comparatively frank look at the sexual hypocrisy of English society.
Source: https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/tess/context/
While this doesn’t make the wrongdoings of the story any easier to accept, it provides a bit of insight and understanding as to why the events of the story take place like they do. Perhaps the author is trying to elevate the consideration and understanding of the elite of the day in society by creating empathy for the common folk, particularly for women, who were much less thought of in the late 1800s when the book was originally published.
Still not my all time favorite story but glad I at least got to find out what the story was all about 🤷🏻♀️
Sharing in case anyone else is interested (following is an excerpt from sparknotes.com and not my personal writing):
Soon after Tess of the d’Urbervilles (1891) was published, its sales assured Hardy’s financial future. But the novel also aroused a substantial amount of controversy. In Tess of the d’Urbervilles and other novels, Hardy demonstrates his deep sense of moral sympathy for England’s lower classes, particularly for rural women. He became famous for his compassionate, often controversial portrayal of young women victimized by the self-righteous rigidity of English social morality. Perhaps his most famous depiction of such a young woman is in Tess of the d’Urbervilles. This novel and the one that followed it, Jude the Obscure (1895), engendered widespread public scandal with their comparatively frank look at the sexual hypocrisy of English society.
Source: https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/tess/context/
While this doesn’t make the wrongdoings of the story any easier to accept, it provides a bit of insight and understanding as to why the events of the story take place like they do. Perhaps the author is trying to elevate the consideration and understanding of the elite of the day in society by creating empathy for the common folk, particularly for women, who were much less thought of in the late 1800s when the book was originally published.
Still not my all time favorite story but glad I at least got to find out what the story was all about 🤷🏻♀️
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault