3.48k reviews for:

Tessa d'Urberville: Historia kobiety czystej

Róża Czekańska-Heymanowa, Thomas Hardy

3.68 AVERAGE

lucy_p's review against another edition

4.0

emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

nixee72's review against another edition

2.0

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meh.. didn't like it..

sebren's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark 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: Yes

renardthefox's review against another edition

3.75

dark emotional relaxing sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

rottenjester's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 59%

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Ralph darling I respect your literary expertise but this is so boring

greenmolly's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

lilimiss_anonymous's review against another edition

5.0

slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

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No surprise but Hardy writes beautifully. The book does not evoke pity or an overflow of uncontrollable emotions, it does not make it easy for you to process what you read and move on. Although we follow the protagonist, the story is actually concerned with the world around her and how it refused to just let her be. While Hardy wrote during and about a time I cannot imagine, the world has not changed enough to deem this as just fiction. 
I don't quite know what to do about this story. I think I'll go lie down. 

killerqueen23's review against another edition

3.75

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

jodiemars93's review against another edition

4.5

emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Third time reading this. Loved it every time. Devastatingly sad. I still hope for a happy ending for Tess every time I read it.

louka01's review against another edition

3.25

dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Okay, while I see its value as a classic, this just dragged on for too long. At first, I was invested in Tess' story, but then one terrible thing after another happened, and every time you think it might get better, it just doesn't. Hardy does a good job showing the double standards of Victorian society, how a woman like Tess gets blamed for actions that she is the victim of and other moral dilemmas. But there were various parts where I felt like the message was clear and it didn't need to be repeated or to drag on for so long. This novel could have been like 200 pages shorter and it would have made it better. Maybe for Victorian readers, this was quite a shock and so Hardy needed to write a lot around it, repeating the moral lessons and so on, but for contemporary readers, the messages have long since become clear. So I'm glad I read the book, it gave me new insights, but for me, it felt way too long.