Reviews with content warning for War - The Paying Guests

Reviews tagging 'War'

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

6 reviews

agavemonster's review

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-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

4.75

Brilliant! I loved the motif of women smoking cigarettes, the disruptive class dynamics of the Barbers' introduction into the Wray household, the depiction of postwar politics and society, the sex writing (a notable bravura was the women's abortive makeup sex), the subtle reveal of Frances' relationship with Christina, the slow-slow-slow burn of the whole story. A quarter-star off because a few moments were handled just slightly less delicately than I would have hoped—the violent swerves of Frances' emotions about Lilian, the discussions of pregnancy and miscarriage which struck me as an incorrect attempt at historicization of terminology, and the very ending, which seemed like it didn't know what it wanted to do with itself. But overall fabulously moody, a great capture of the interwar period, and a wonderful page-turning piece of art.

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aduqu's review

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emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Wow wow wow. This book enraptured me. I cannot recommend it enough!

The only reason it didn't reach 5 stars is because Part 3 does slow down the pace significantly, despite the fact that is the tensest part of the book.

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mxpringle's review

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This book took such insane turns that I never expected from the start of it. I thoroughly enjoyed how real the characters felt throughout all that they were faced

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throwback682's review

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dark emotional 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

5.0

I read this book based on how much I remembered loving the same author’s Tipping the Velvet fifteen years ago. I only read a short blurb and didn’t know what the meat of the plot was actually about. I was very surprised.

If you want to know more of the plot, but not major twists or ending:

An older woman and her spinster daughter, living alone after the sons were killed in WWI and the husband died of a heart attack, are financially ruined and have to take in a young married couple as lodgers. The daughter is a lesbian and starts having an affair with the woman lodger. Then the man lodger dies unexpectedly and that’s where the majority of the tension in the book comes from. So it’s a sapphic love story? But also mostly a murder… not mystery? A crime drama, perhaps.

If you want to know whether it has a happy ending:

Yes? It leaves you hanging a bit but it’s not the tragic ending I feared.

Further ending spoilers:

The male lodge is the only person in the book who dies. No LGBTQ+ deaths.

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gravys's review

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dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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natanidae's review against another edition

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emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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