Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins

5 reviews

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

Fun and fast-paced retelling of Jane Eyre. Good beach read or palate cleanser for heavier novels.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Sexism, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Murder, Vomit, Classism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Violence, Alcoholism, Child death, Grief, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Child abuse, Death, and Mental illness

annegoodreads's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

4.0

The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins was definitely better than Jane Eyre for me.  It is set in 

Birmingham, Alabama, and described as gothic Southern fiction.  I didn’t find it gothic in any way (there wasn’t a single ghost 🤣).  The characters were all so good though.  Jane is a broke dog-walker in Thornfield Estates trying to make enough just to move out of her “friend” John’s 700 sq ft apartment.  On a walk, she meets one of the residents of Thornfield Estates named Eddie Rochester.  Eddie’s wife Bea recently died in a boating accident.  Bea’s “best friend” also died in the accident.    Jane and Eddie hit it off right away and before long she moves in.  She befriends all of Bea’s friends in the neighborhood.  While some of the neighborhood girls are quite superficial, most are well-meaning.  Occurrences increasingly raise Jane’s suspicions and luckily she has street smarts.  The ending to this was so good.  It was kind of predictable but so satisfying.  I can’t wait to read Rachel Hawkin’s newest Reckless Girls.  

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Kidnapping, and Sexism

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Medical content, Sexual harassment, and Violence

Minor: Sexual content

caseythereader's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

 - I almost never read thrillers, especially the subgenre of Wife this and Wife that thrillers. But I made an exception for THE WIFE UPSTAIRS because it's a retelling of one of my favorite classic novels - JANE EYRE.
- And am I glad I did! I tore through it in less than a day. THE WIFE UPSTAIRS is pure book candy - rich people behaving badly, a young woman escaping a dark past, murder most foul, etc.
- You definitely don't need to have read JANE EYRE to enjoy this book, but if you have, you'll spot some delightful callbacks in the names and details. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Violence

ehmannky's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Fantastic. Fast-paced and creepy and interesting and firmly in the camp of "Jane Eyre [or Belle, in this case] can do better." It's such an inventive play on Jane Eyre (and, blessedly, so much shorter and much more fun to read). I liked all the twists and turns. Like, yes, he has his wife locked upstairs, but there are so many other twists in there. Even knowing that Bea (Bertha) is in the attic, I still felt it was chilling when Jane heard sounds in the house. 

Great overall, and I loved Jane being kind of a bitch. But not a rich bitch, just kind of hard from what life had dealt her. I don't know how die-hard Jane Eyre fans will rate it, but as someone who has always struggled to understand the appeal of the original, I loved this retelling. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Murder, Death, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Infidelity

Minor: Sexism, Child abuse, Child death, and Stalking