Reviews

Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe

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terrahome's review against another edition

3.0

Not good, but intensely interesting. Defoe has a lot of sharp observations about capitalism, the limitations of women in 18th century England, and the desperation caused by poverty; but he also doesn't really interrogate these problems and is very eager to send all criminals off to US colonies in a way that ignores the fundamental problems with the harsh prison sentences of his era. More than that the book's plot is contrived as hell. Defoe has one theme and he really wants to hammer it home with ridiculous situation after ridiculous situation. Still, it is fascinatingly weird which made it pretty entertaining.

jendautrefois's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

rubyrush's review against another edition

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adventurous funny tense slow-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? It's complicated

2.0

angelherwings's review against another edition

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3.0

Finally.

Edit:
Change int rating from 2 -> 3
Since the book overall was very interesting just reading das not that fun

mawar12's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging reflective slow-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

1.0

this is just a hard to read book and I can't get over the fact that Moll literally kidnap kids from a woman that had her house burned. It is definitely disgusting and this whole book is just a list of Moll doing stupid choices. The fun engaging stuff happened like the last 1\3 part of the book very late into the story when she becomes a con artist. The worst of character like the gentlewoman who literally is the ringleader of child kidnappings were praised by Moll throughout the book as if she did nothing wrong. Then the book talks about being repentant but continuously shows no resolution to the children kidnapped or even Molls other kids. The fact that Moll also continued to lie to her husband. Then she is glad her brother died but is ok and good with her son tt she had with her brother?? Not even an ounce of pity to the death of her brother? It just doesn't make any sense. This book isn't even morally grey it's just the main character committing stupid crimes and bad choices but escapes it because of plot armor.