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lillowo's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- 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? No
2.0
It's a book! Charles Dickens got paid by the word and you can see it in this book. There are stories and subplots that just didn't need to exist.
Overall I enjoyed the book but I would have enjoyed it if it was half the word count so much more. Our characters are sweet and interesting but they feel very one note overall for me. We have a bad guy, we have a good guy, we have an honest guy... So on and so forth.
Read the spark notes.
Overall I enjoyed the book but I would have enjoyed it if it was half the word count so much more. Our characters are sweet and interesting but they feel very one note overall for me. We have a bad guy, we have a good guy, we have an honest guy... So on and so forth.
Read the spark notes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism
Moderate: Murder
rcsreads's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- 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
3.0
What the Dickens? You would never treat the boy orphans this way!
.
Spoilers are go so if you're going to get mad about me ruining the 180 year old story stop now!
.
This is one of the easier to read Dickens books so it's a good one if you struggle with his writing but there are better choices. The plot doesn't always make the most sense, we introduce a lot of random characters for a couple of chapters and then never hear of them again and the treatment of dwarfism is offensive to say the least.
.
Charles clearly had not decided how the book was ending when he started. Dick Swiveller (excellent name!) has a sudden inexplicable personality change halfway through and Nell's brother randomly goes overseas off page because he was clearly in the way of the plot. These two start off as if they're going to be bad guys and then Dickens clearly decided to just go all in with Mr Quilp, although I never understood why Mr Quilp was so mad at them after he had their house. He put a lot of unnecessary effort into being an asshole for no reason!
.
The ending annoyed me, why did we put so much effort into the, totally basic and overused Dickens plot, of someone coming to provide the orphan with vast wealth and then just kill all our main characters? It's like because Nell was a girl we could just make her a little martyr. If Nell had been Oliver or David Copperfield she would have made her fortune and married Kit.
.
Anyway, it was fine but also annoying.
.
Spoilers are go so if you're going to get mad about me ruining the 180 year old story stop now!
.
This is one of the easier to read Dickens books so it's a good one if you struggle with his writing but there are better choices. The plot doesn't always make the most sense, we introduce a lot of random characters for a couple of chapters and then never hear of them again and the treatment of dwarfism is offensive to say the least.
.
Charles clearly had not decided how the book was ending when he started. Dick Swiveller (excellent name!) has a sudden inexplicable personality change halfway through and Nell's brother randomly goes overseas off page because he was clearly in the way of the plot. These two start off as if they're going to be bad guys and then Dickens clearly decided to just go all in with Mr Quilp, although I never understood why Mr Quilp was so mad at them after he had their house. He put a lot of unnecessary effort into being an asshole for no reason!
.
The ending annoyed me, why did we put so much effort into the, totally basic and overused Dickens plot, of someone coming to provide the orphan with vast wealth and then just kill all our main characters? It's like because Nell was a girl we could just make her a little martyr. If Nell had been Oliver or David Copperfield she would have made her fortune and married Kit.
.
Anyway, it was fine but also annoying.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism and Misogyny
daisyb's review against another edition
dark
funny
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
like if an ai wrote a dickens novel
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism
faloneran's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism
jowmy4's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Mental illness, Ableism, Addiction, Child death, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Bullying, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Sexism, Medical content, Body shaming, and Misogyny
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