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daniellarae's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I was a bit disappointed at the lack of ghostly presence and atmosphere that I was expecting. I thought it would be creepier. The twist was also quite predictable.
A classic nonetheless.
(My content warning tags may contain some minor spoilers)
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Classism
Minor: Body shaming, Death, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Murder, and Cultural appropriation
archiveofrasa'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I thoroughly enjoyed annotating my copy like I was back in my English class, only I was actually appreciating and reading what I was analysing. du Maurier's use of dialogue is by far my favourite aspect of this book as they brought up tension so quickly and intensely. her characters are also what carried the story for me, with how nuanced and smartly she wove the character interactions and feelings into every scene. It was so easy to immerse myself into the story as if I was there and not reading a book, but seeing it play out before me.
people have said they hate specific characters and while I personally don't like any of them, I don't particularly hate them either because of how complex they are. the only character I can think to like the least is Maxim but even then we're not entirely sure how unreliable he is compared to everyone else. I do agree with how sinister Mrs Danvers is but even she's unreliable and clouded with grief and her actions do match the time period this is set in. there are things she does that are terrible, but also parts where I feel her mind turning, her feelings breaking the surface. every character felt so real, it's incredible how du Maurier captures them in this story. even with Rebecca and the narrator, their phantom relationship was crafted so well I doubt I'll forget it anytime soon.
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, and Murder
Moderate: Cancer, Infidelity, and Suicide
Minor: Ableism and Incest
as with a lot of classics, though, there is the discrepancy I feel about race in this story. There is a bit of cultural appropriation of Arabs and a few classic phrases that feel really weird coming out of a white character's mouth. I want to mention this because I still enjoyed the book, but to do so I had to ignore those aspects. not everyone has the luxury to do so. even if it's from an old time doesn't make it okay. we can critically like things.bone_empress's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Ableism
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Classism
Minor: Incest and Cultural appropriation
Ableism: there's an adult character that may have a developmental disability. People talk down to him and use disparaging words to describe him, and he is portrayed as being unintelligent. It's also heavily implied that he may have also been emotionally abused in the past and threatened with being institutionalized. The character is not present for most of the book. Bullying and emotional abuse: one character is intentionally hurtful to the narrator, playing upon the narrator's fears and insecurities. The narrator's husband stonewalls her sometimes and the narrator is impacted negatively. Cultural appropriation: Characters dress up in appropriated attire at an event. One is in brown face. Incest: a secondary character had a consensual relationship with a non-immediate family member in the past. Not described in detail. Suicide: a character is theorized to have successfully ended their life and the method is generally described but does not give violent details. Suicidal thoughts (very mild spoiler, no names):frantically's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Classism
Moderate: Cancer, Incest, Infidelity, and Grief
Minor: Abortion
atelopxobia'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Cancer, Gun violence, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
reading_under_covers's review against another edition
4.5
The fact that the MC is never given a name really added to the story and the ending had me 🤯 👀
Note: There were a couple of problematic scenes, which I guess at the time wouldn’t have come across that way, but were cringe and uncomfortable to read in the modern day.
Graphic: Racism, Murder, and Cultural appropriation
Moderate: Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Minor: Incest
sadiaa's review against another edition
4.75
Minor: Cancer, Death, Incest, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Murder, and Alcohol
cowboyaj's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, and Murder
Minor: Incest and Cultural appropriation
mishasbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Ableism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and War
maeverose's review against another edition
3.75
‘ “Yes,” I said. ’s
I hate Maxim. Of course this book isn’t a romance novel, and it was written over 80 years ago so the misogyny is not at all unexpected, but being as they remain a couple by the end it’s irritating to me. He’s so patronizing and misogynistic towards Narrator from the beginning and it only gets worse later on. Frank had much better chemistry with Narrator, I didn’t feel like Maxim actually liked her at all, we hardly even saw them together. And the fact that he was so much older than her but also liked that she was young and innocent grossed me out.
On a less critical note (though still negative because it’s depressing), I was surprised how much I related to Narrator with her social difficulties. I think the intention was that she was young and wasn’t used to all the social obligations of being a more well known person, but to me it read very similar to social anxiety or maybe even autism/adhd. She also had pretty intense insecurities and didn’t think very highly of herself (rejection sensitivity?), which honestly made me a bit sad while reading because I related to so much of it.
Graphic: Ableism, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Murder, and Cultural appropriation
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Cancer, Fatphobia, Incest, Pedophilia, Racism, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content
Ageism. Minor spoilers related to the pedophilia and suicidal thoughts: