Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Magpie

Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Magpie by Elizabeth Day

30 reviews

megan_bbender's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

My friends call me Magpie so when I saw this book on the shelf I just had to get it. It's not the most amazing book I have ever read but it also isn't the worst. I really enjoyed certain parts of it, but I found that there were lots and lots of filler pages that were very slow and boring to read.

I feel as if the author does not think the readers are smart enough to figure out the twist on their own which is why there was so much back and forth between the past and present. This is what made the book feel so slow, because you are reading over the same scenario twice.

After looking up the author, I can appreciate that this book may have a lot more deeper meaning as it possibly reflects some of her personal experiences with marriage and IVF but I personally cannot relate to these issues so there was not a strong connection for me.

With that being said, the twists and turns were really unexpected and they kept me on the edge of my seat. The ending was a bit predictable but it was still enjoyable.

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emilydigweed's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

3.5

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cheekylaydee's review against another edition

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dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I managed to finish this one in two days. More twisted than I expected it to be, which is a good thing. The only thing I was a little uncomfortable with was the use of mental illness

to drive the plot forward, which is getting to be an overdone trope, however the author did good by the character towards the end, so in this case it could be forgiven.

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lizardqueenlazerbeam's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

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velvet_young's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.0

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hollymileham's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

such an interesting exploration of all the different complexities of motherhood, the twists in this blew my mind. defo lying if you say you predicted any part of this
rating 4 stars tho bc i feel like the ending was a bit optimistic for such an intense book

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leoniejenkins's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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books_plus_brownies's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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elagrand's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

3.0

This was a book of two halves for me. The first half took me a while to get into, there was a few moments of confusion and boredom but as soon as we turned the page to the second half I was all in. Some twists and turns to keep it interesting, some lovable and consoling characters to warm to, and the mental health issues and infertility journey was done with compassion and empathy that made it so heartbreaking to read.

I have enjoyed this book and would recommend to others, but would probably warn them that it may take some time to warm up to it… but it’s worth it.

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bgoodbookclub's review

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emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I enjoyed this one a lot more than I expected! I went into it having the mindset of 'getting through it' but I actually really enjoyed the story. It had a very unique storytelling process of having you root for two people who had every reason to be against each other. It did an awesome job of giving perspective and backstory that fully rounded the characters.

There is a decent chunk of this book that is about trying to conceive, IVF, miscarriages, etc. so if that is something that you are sensitive to, I suggest reading some reviews. That is not something that I have personally gone through so I don't think I'm the best person to speak to it but I think it could be pretty heavy to those going through that.

I would definitely read another one of Day's book! The twist was definitely unexpected.

A big thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this one!

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