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dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is sooo beautifully written. every emotion the mc has is accurately conveyed through the writing. since english is not my first language, i’ve always had the fear of not understanding books that were written so long ago but this wasn’t as snobby as i expected it to be. tbh it wasn’t complicated nor simple it was just cleverly written in an in-between. as for the actual story, as devastating as it was, i’m glad it developed the way it did. the messy process of heartbreak and self-doubt and shame was so hard to read and definitely heart-wrenching and it’s exacerbated once you realize that this was the 1910s meaning that if you were queer, finding someone like you and who you liked must have been excruciatingly difficult and a heartbreak must have felt 10 times worse. it also meant having to deal with the shame, disgust, and sense of wrongdoing inflicted upon you by society. and none of this was easy. and more so if you take into account there was almost no source of information you could get to realize you weren’t actually wrong. you weren’t damned. also there was no representation out there for you to see yourself reflected on and know that there were people out there like you and there was nothing wrong with it. which meant that believing whatever bullshit you were being fed by people was easy. on the other hand, i really loved how the effects of religion on queer people are addressed. i’m generally a sucker for that kind of conversation around religion and queerness and this book served to the point where it made me reconsider a few things. as for clive, i never quite understood him. i want to think that maybe he was ace but i honestly can’t tell. the fact that he suddenly stopped liking men was weird to say the least. i mean it served for a heartbreaking plot twist but was it realistic? at first i tried to think that maybe he wasn’t really attracted to men to begin with but thought he was because of his misogyny but by the way he described his feelings for maurice and for other men in his past he was genuinely attracted to men at least in a romantic way. so he definitely did like men at some point. then i thought maybe he’s bi and just stopped loving maurice and started loving a woman and that’s why he feels like he doesn’t like men in general anymore but he said that he’s no longer interested in men and actually thinking about men disgusts him. when it comes to sexualities i tend to accept them as they come but this didn’t make much sense to me. and after he stopped liking men he became a completely different person from who he was just close to a year earlier going from happily wanting to spend his whole life with a man to being a homophobe who slut shames his ex lover and gaslights him into believing he has a disease he can be cured of. he went from being free from conventions to enforcing them. and i don’t say this as a complaint for the writing because i could see this happening as a result of his newly found socially accepted heterosexuality but it still feels weird that he found it in the first place.
now for the negative side. the only reason i’m not giving 5 stars is because of the main characters’ classism, elitism, and misogyny. their takes on poverty and class were outrageous and privileged af and i’m glad that other characters noticed them because that means that the author is aware that they weren’t okay and made sure there was someone calling them out. aside from that, it is explicitly said that they were misogynists because they saw women as incapable of doing anything that wasn’t trivial and whatever they did seemed silly to them. despite the mcs having intellectual debates about things, they failed to maybe take into consideration the fact that sexism and misogyny might be at fault for women not being able to participate in their intellectual exchanges since their opinions were always disregarded.
in conclusion, despite it having some questionable decisions and some problematic things going on, this story paints an excellent picture of the struggles of queer people in a heteronormative society of the twentieth century and is one of the most touching and heartbreaking stories i’ve ever read and one i will definitely remember for a lifetime.
now for the negative side. the only reason i’m not giving 5 stars is because of the main characters’ classism, elitism, and misogyny. their takes on poverty and class were outrageous and privileged af and i’m glad that other characters noticed them because that means that the author is aware that they weren’t okay and made sure there was someone calling them out. aside from that, it is explicitly said that they were misogynists because they saw women as incapable of doing anything that wasn’t trivial and whatever they did seemed silly to them. despite the mcs having intellectual debates about things, they failed to maybe take into consideration the fact that sexism and misogyny might be at fault for women not being able to participate in their intellectual exchanges since their opinions were always disregarded.
in conclusion, despite it having some questionable decisions and some problematic things going on, this story paints an excellent picture of the struggles of queer people in a heteronormative society of the twentieth century and is one of the most touching and heartbreaking stories i’ve ever read and one i will definitely remember for a lifetime.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Classism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Gaslighting
Minor: Bullying, Incest, Misogyny, Sexism, Excrement, Sexual harassment
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Despite being short, it was a difficult read, as many of the experiences and thoughts that the characters were experiencing were a little too close to home. E.M. Foster spoke of the loneliness that shrouded Maurice with such clarity that it felt as though I was in the same situation. Either that or it was so familiar that I had little trouble relating to it.
A bit difficult to read what with my copy not really meant to be read on my particular device, but definitely something I'd like to get a physical copy of some day.
A bit difficult to read what with my copy not really meant to be read on my particular device, but definitely something I'd like to get a physical copy of some day.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Sexism, Classism
Minor: Bullying, Infertility
emotional
reflective
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
This book lives rent free in my head 24/7. There’s just so much to unpack and it’s something I love thinking about.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism
Minor: Bullying
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Bullying, Sexism
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Religious bigotry
Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Misogyny, Sexism, Terminal illness
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Grief, Medical trauma
Minor: Bullying, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Excrement
conversion therapy, internalized homophobia, compulsory heterosexuality
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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:
Yes
One of my favorite books. I find E.M. Forster to be very witty and masterful in how he draws us in and pulls back at certain points. He has an eye for what's interesting, and what can be summarized. The voice of the novel makes it easy to feel sympathetic for Maurice even when he's being an idiot. We see him whole and flawed.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny
Minor: Bullying, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Death of parent
Technically speaking, the episode with the hypnotist is a self-sought conversion therapy. It ends well though. There is also a moment when Maurice thinks about taking advantage of a teen boy but when the boy doesn't accept his advances, he realizes how terrible that almost was.