Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin

20 reviews

alex60517's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Suicide, Racial slurs, Medical trauma, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Child death, Homophobia, and Vomit

alliebranca's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

Loved this. It was a case of is the character being gaslit or is something nefarious going on? Or perhaps both. The main character, Rosemary, is smart and not a meek idiot which makes the story great to follow. The conclusion is both sad and scary - and very interesting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting and Rape

Moderate: Suicide and Pregnancy

Minor: Racial slurs and Homophobia

horrorclassics's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting

Moderate: Rape and Racial slurs

Minor: Homophobia

lkriv25's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Minor: Racial slurs

bookbelle5_17's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

Review of Rosemary’s Baby

By: Ira Levin

            Rosemary and Guy are a young happy couple eager to move into the famous Bramford apartment.  When they move in, they meet this elderly couple, Roman and Mini Castavets, who are very willing to insert themselves in Rosemary and Guy’s lives.  Rosemary finally gets pregnant the Castavets help Rosemary with it, but she begins to suspect they have wicked intensions for her baby.

Rosemary’s Baby focuses not only on the occult and devil worship, but also on the fears of expecting mothers.  Am I harming my child before its born?  How do make I sure my baby is born good?  It is one of those horror stories where our protagonists’ sanity is put to the test and can any of the other characters can be trusted.  Rosemary is constantly gaslighted and is condescended to by her husband, Guy, and she is so submissive to him in most of the story.  The Castavets are written in a way that makes them seem like they mean well, but they’re trying too hard to be involved with Rosemary’s pregnancy, especially when she barely knows them.  The horror is written in a subtle way where the reader doesn’t know for sure of what’s going on.  I found myself getting frustrated with Rosemary, because I wanted her to stand up for herself and not trust the Castavets.  Unless you don’t believe in the devil, this possibility is absolutely terrifying, but also even if you don’t believe the idea of these, who do believe is quite frightening as well.  This is an older novel published in the 60s and has casual racist mentalities.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, Suicide, and Confinement

Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism

jrs_55's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Rape, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Racial slurs, and Death

jaedia's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Rape, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Death, Religious bigotry, and Suicide

rumade's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Probably one of the first explorations of pregnancy as a horrifying experience and the alienation and pain that can come with it. Rosemary is a likeable character and easy to root for- a normal Midwestern girl almost estranged from her huge Catholic family back in Omaha as she lives with her WASP husband in New York and longs for a baby. I wish I could have read this without knowing the premise; so I could feel the tension build up more and more. Even if you roughly know the story, it's worth a read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Suicide

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Vomit, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, and Medical trauma

Minor: Blood, Addiction, Abortion, Child death, and Alcohol

There is a scene where a husband is very dismissive of him raping his wife the night before when she was passed out drunk

hannahleila's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

The pace of this one threw me. It started off well then got quite slow in the middle. The last 50 pages or so it picked up again and felt a bit rushed.
Also for a book that’s had so many editions released this was full of typos and punctuation where it shouldn’t be. I’m not talking the odd comma, but full stops in the middle of sentences.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Pregnancy, and Rape

Moderate: Suicide and Death

Minor: Racial slurs and Homophobia

aquariusvintage's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.0

Personally, I found the writing outdated. A lot of harmful tropes and slurs added. Appreciate the creepiness of the story line. A horror that is horrifying because it so closely mirrors reality. The book is considered a classic so there wasn't any jump scares or major twists in the storyline. Seemed pretty predictable. Didn't realize there would be a cliffhanger because the book is the beginning of a series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Homophobia and Racial slurs

Minor: Vomit and Child death