emotional reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

What a tragic tale!

Loved every minute of it! Hardy is a tough read but incredible
challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
adventurous challenging emotional 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: Yes

for a book written in the 19th century, much of the plot is achingly modern (ha) and so SAD. I really feel for Tess, a young woman who follows the script she has been given in life and is betrayed again and again by the men in her life. Hardy offers a lot about Victorian morality and the double standards that exist between men and women, much of which stretch on to today. 
challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The end of the novel just simply left a gaping hole in my chest. A story so profound in the tragedy of a woman put up against the hypocritical morality of the society and the inscrutable fate- a fight not so fair. 
A woman though weak in her physicality, yet so strong in enduring the endless grief, and not with an ability to benumbed by the pains. 
Often Tess had mused to die, such dialogues which wrenched the heart out of me...
If I could describe the book in colours, it would be yellow and black. The colour of mellowness and grief. 
Yet some parts were so beautifully able to capture the love between characters, so passionate and truthful in their feelings, yet unable to fulfill each other's satisfaction. 
This is simply a tragic story of a pure woman, rendered weak and helpless by the various blows thrown at her way. In the end, I felt a pity for Tess so deep it left me breathless and devoid of any further thoughts. 
dark emotional sad
challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes