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alienstookmybooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Minor: Violence, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Murder
greatexpectations77's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Addiction, Medical content, Racism, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Slavery, Colonisation, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Pregnancy, Blood, Classism, Miscarriage, Murder, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Grief, Infertility, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Animal cruelty and Child death
If reading about babies and birth upsets you in any way, this book may not be for you.msradiosilence's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
By all accounts, Frances’ story is a tragedy, and not necessarily of her own making. She’s a strong woman prone to making choices everyone warns her against, but their her choices to make. She did the best she could in her situations, even if the best was something truly horrific.
There can be some interesting speculation on whether Frances is a reliable narrator or not, considering the story is from her point of view, but I think a woman
Anyway, as much as it hurt me, I did really enjoy the book. One of the only 5 star reads from 2021.
Graphic: Ableism, Abortion, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Murder, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, and Vomit
carolinb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Slavery, Racism, Racial slurs, Miscarriage, Lesbophobia, Drug abuse, and Drug use
amberinbookland's review against another edition
2.75
Graphic: Incest, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Racism, Racial slurs, Colonisation, Violence, Blood, Slavery, Sexism, Pregnancy, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, Death, Confinement, and Abandonment
marieketron's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Dementia, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, and Violence
Moderate: Abortion, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Suicidal thoughts
serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
The Confessions of Frannie Langton was a perfect book for June, what with it being Pride month and Read Caribbean month. It’s historical fiction, set in both Jamaica and Georgian England and centres on Frannie Langton, a servant and former slave who is accused of murdering her employers. While Frannie can’t recall what happened that fateful night, what she does remember, the story of her life and how she came to be in the dock, is quite the story - one that is definitely worth reading. It involves a childhood on a Jamaican sugar plantation, being raised by an enslaved woman but also taught to read, being forced to serve as scientific assistant on warped and horrific experiments, and then taken to England (where she is free technically but certainly not in reality) and given to another man who puts her to work as a servant. A relationship with her mistress, an opium user, leads to tragic consequences.
I was absorbed in Frannie’s story from beginning to end. It’s certainly a fresh take on the gothic novel, a story which has some initial passing similarities to Jane Eyre but goes so much further. It takes a pointed look at the intersectionality of race, gender, class and sexuality and lays bare the worst excesses of a “science” driven by racism. I was constantly struck by white men acting atrociously and believing they had some divine right to control and direct the lives of others, especially women and moreso when then woman was Black. The story also highlighted how Black knowledge was both feared yet also exploited by white men.
The plot was multi-layered with many additional themes and sub-plots. Occasionally it felt a bit much, especially towards the end of the book, but Collins’s writing and Frannie’s voice always pulled me back.
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Suicide
the_literarylinguist's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Medical content, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Suicide, and Violence
Moderate: Abortion
Minor: Homophobia
bodiesinbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Abortion, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Murder, Racial slurs, Slavery, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit
linnkaren's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Slavery, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Mental illness, Medical content, Abortion, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Racism
Moderate: Rape, Murder, and Incest