Reviews

What a ride. I'm a sucker for corrupt religious imagery, and this novel is full to the brim with it. The development between Matilda, Ambrosio, and Antonia was most interesting to me, although I also became invested in Agnes' story in the very end. The novel deals with a lot of heavy material and is quite graphic. I'm not sure I would have particularly enjoyed it for a read on my own, but it is quite interesting to analyze. I read this for a gothic lit class, and I really enjoyed our discussions surrounding religion, gender, pride, good vs evil, etc. in the novel.

Content Warnings

pineapple_queen's review against another edition

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dark 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? Yes

3.0

katiescogins's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

bookgut's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

gaymoonreader's review against another edition

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1.0

This is one of the most misogynistic books I’ve read in quite a few years. It reduces women to conniving, manipulative evil bitches, and I can’t stomach that kind of blatant sexism and misogyny. This book also has a massive trigger warning for sexual assault, rape and date rape. There are explicit scenes of this happening that can and will trigger someone who has experienced those things, speaking from personal experience. This book also has themes of anti Catholicism and is critical of that religion, so keep that in mind. This entire book was basically one misogynist’s acid trip, honestly, and it’s one of the worst books I’ve ever read. I don’t recommend it.

showell's review against another edition

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2.0

Rendered nearly senseless by the impact of reading words so breathlessly written, she nonetheless persisted in reviewing a book whose attractions she could not have resisted, had her mind not been steeled by the remembrance of a 1000 other works more artfully written.
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If you like that sort of writing, go read this book. It's got lots and lots of pages of it.

sebniv's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.75

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