Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

8 reviews

mxpringle's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Murder, Abortion, Death, Grief, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and War

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexism, and Death of parent

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

throwback682's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Infertility, Biphobia, Grief, Confinement, Abortion, War, Vomit, Outing, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Death, Child death, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Murder, Misogyny, Medical content, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Gore, and Blood

There’s talk of a stillbirth. There are pretty graphic descriptions of a medication abortion at home. There is a murder with some grisly description of a head wound. Tons of blood related to both the abortion and the murder. There are several sex scenes between two cis women. It’s indicated that marital rape occurs.

bootsmom3's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Alcohol, Homophobia, Sexual content, Death, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Blood, Body horror, Violence, Sexism, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Outing, Grief, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, and Murder

Moderate: Miscarriage, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, and Misogyny

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

hamletslover's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Medical content, Blood, Grief, Lesbophobia, Sexual content, Sexism, Infidelity, Death, and Toxic relationship

sofipitch's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

This book changes genres on you so quick and it handles the change so well. I just found I liked the first part, the romance between Lilian and Frances more than the crime story. Also I wish the ending hadn't waited till the very end bc I figured it could only end one way with so little time left. It felt anticlimactic. Def more plotty than a character book but I enjoyed it nevertheless

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Abortion, and Violence

Moderate: Lesbophobia and Homophobia

Minor: Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Grief

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This book is a long haul, but it keeps good intensity up throughout. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Grief, Murder, Blood, Sexual content, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Classism, Child death, Toxic relationship, Miscarriage, Lesbophobia, Emotional abuse, Violence, Alcohol, Body horror, and Bullying

Minor: Death of parent

sarahna's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Blood, Body horror, Grief, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Miscarriage, Murder, and Pregnancy

valpuri's review

dark tense slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Abortion, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, and Infidelity

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Grief, Medical content, Miscarriage, Sexual content, and Violence

Minor: Confinement, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts