Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Yellow Jessamine by Caitlin Starling

5 reviews

spadedigsbutts's review against another edition

dark 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

3.75

This was a short read but pretty decent! The story takes place in a city under siege by a new non-royal rebel government where our MC is is part of the old noble class barely keeping things together as the city starves. A mysterious and seemingly supernatural sickness strikes and our MC is at the heart of it for unknown reasons.  Will she get to the bottom of it?? Hell no, she's a self-serving mercantile recluse that just wants to keep as much as her power as possible while avoiding eye contact with the 15 elephants in the room! If you like slow-paced character studies with deeply flawed characters and lesbians, you will enjoy this book. If you like lingering dread, tension, eerie seemingly supernatural elements and apothecary aesthetic, you'll enjoy this book.  Overall, the only complaint would be the ending felt a little rushed and I wish we'd spent more time on some aspects of the end, but I think it's a matter of opinion if you find it suitable or not.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Drug abuse, Vomit, Body horror, and Drug use

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and War

applepieandeve's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Drug use, Body horror, Drug abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction

aardwyrm's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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

4.0

All atmosphere, and it's good atmosphere, so it doesn't matter too much that the very little plot there is wouldn't hold together in a stiff breeze. The supernatural stuff is entirely mysterious until a giant info dump at the end, which is genre standard and kind of how Starling does it, in my experience, but it's perfectly respectable. Evelyn herself is a bit of a weak link, as she's presented as a conniving, ruthless strategist, but on page all we see her do is act in the most suspicious way possible and make the worst available decisions no matter how little sense they make. But the vibes are the star of the book. All the grim, oozing decadence is very effective.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexism, Blood, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Vomit

cait's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Blood, Grief, Body horror, Confinement, Death of parent, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Gore

bethsiekierawalker's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Murder, Death of parent, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Drug use, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Confinement and War