Reviews

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

catlady_69's review

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dark emotional tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

coleycole's review against another edition

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4.0

Great writing overall, liked the openness of the ending after everything that happened

angstyspaghetti's review

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dark emotional reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I had no ide what I was gettin into w this book and the period gay love story was enough for me but the character development, thrill and crime story was bonus 

glazedcoconut's review

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dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

sophiee1's review

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The exploration of lesbian lovers and how challenging this was historically was too challenging and close to heart for me on this occasion, though I did love the book.

winniefree's review

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dark reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

aliena_jackson's review

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1.0

The only redeeming quality is that it’s over.

rdlevitt's review

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3.0

Meh. I found it boring, of all things. Two main characters I didn't care about, doing irresponsible stuff for 500 pages.

sqmegrndhole's review

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3.0

I struggled to get through this book and didn't really feel like it started until the last 100 pages.

abbeyhar103's review

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3.0

Listened to it as an audiobook - the narrator was excellent.

I loved the first third, and then spent the last 2/3 thinking the book was going to go in a different direction than it ultimately did.

I enjoyed the depiction of post-WWI life, and thought Sarah Waters did a good job of showing rather than telling the reader what life was like in that particular time.

However, she majorly needed a good editor. The protagonist was constantly repeating herself, and going on this dull inner monologues. Additionally, I don't know about you, but I've never actually seen someone blush in real life. This was constantly happening in the book - characters were blushing and other people were noting and responding to it. Also, things were described as "Dickensian" at least 3 times.