Reviews with content warning for Genocide - The Safekeep

Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden

18 reviews

ally_reads_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

3.0

This book dragged in the middle. It had a strong finish and I liked the twist. I wish I had skipped ahead to part 3 when I started to get bored of

the romance

in part 2.

Content Warnings

manukahoney_reads's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful mysterious reflective

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

Content Warnings

julesmae's review

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emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

deedireads's review

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emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.75

All my reviews live at https://deedireads.com/.

I’d owned a copy of The Safekeep since before it was published (thanks, Avid Reader Press!), but for whatever reason it just never bubbled up to the top of my TBR — until it was nominated (and then shortlisted) for the Booker Prize. And WOW, am I glad for it. I loved this one.

The Safekeep is a fever dream of a novel about a woman named Isabel in the Netherlands in the early 1960s. She lives a life of curmudgeonly solitude in the house her family moved into during WWII — until her brother’s latest girlfriend comes to stay, and her belongings start to disappear one by one (or do they?).

I don’t want to say too much more about the plot, except that the tone and trajectory does a 180 about halfway through, and there’s a decent twist that you can see coming if you look carefully (although I did not). Also, fair warning, this book is extremely horny.

What an incredible debut novel. What a look at desire and loneliness and what home means and the obsessive pursuit of the thing you want. But above all, what a look at complicity and what it means to have been complicit.

I’m still rooting for James, but I definitely wouldn’t be mad if this won the Booker.

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