Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

Bluebeard's Castle by Anna Biller

10 reviews

quickspells's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Classism

Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Stalking, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

glamatcha's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

There's so many moments where the author latches on to some compelling bit of character psychology, but those little glimmers of interest are drowned out by storytelling that is tediously drawn out and a protagonist who is unlikeable from quite early on.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Classism

1goodkaren's review

adventurous dark informative tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I was so eager and excited to read this book. I love feminist reimaginings of classic tales, but this is not that. This is a regurgitation of men's violence against women, a few statistics about the dangers of strangulation, and a sorry ending. What a disappointment. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Infidelity, Vomit, Stalking, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

aliceemmett's review

sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Stalking

elizalk's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Anna Biller's style is so distinct, I didn't love it at first, but picturing it in my mind in the same style as her movie the love witch helped the book grow on me. desperately sad and accurate depiction of the justifications many women make to stay with (evil) men. the story felt like promising young women if it were written better, still left me a bit unsatisfied

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual harassment

marinalikeaboatyard's review

dark mysterious tense fast-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

1.0

emerald fennell would direct the shit out of this 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Colonisation

lateromantic's review

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A slow start - if you're a fan of Biller's films you'll like it, the prose has that same stilted, photographic quality as her scripts, and she drops in many references and aesthetic tidbits. I wouldn't call it feminist so much as female-gaze - there is rage but no righteousness.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

literally_mint's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

catherineneeds's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, and Murder

princess_araya's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A beautiful love letter to the Gothic genre. Feminist readers can have their cake and eat it too, with the story’s self awareness and moments of reflection on genre tropes with modern terminology… while still delivering all of the delicious beats handpicked from Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Rebecca and the like. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Animal death, Infidelity, Sexual content, Stalking, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Physical abuse, Vomit, and Death of parent