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maresuju's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Medical content
Moderate: Blood, Child death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Death of parent
Minor: Drug use, Pregnancy, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, and Vomit
alxjasper's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Gore, Medical trauma, Body horror, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pregnancy
Minor: Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, War, Vomit, Violence, Self harm, and Gaslighting
brenncocoa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Violence, Body horror, and Death
Moderate: Gaslighting, Vomit, and Abandonment
Minor: Animal death, Death of parent, Child death, Sexual content, and Pregnancy
buildingtaste's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Murder, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Self harm, Torture, Death, Abandonment, Mental illness, Animal death, Confinement, Death of parent, and Violence
Moderate: Medical content
Minor: Sexual content and Forced institutionalization
As a gothic horror novel, Jane Lawrence comes in fast with explicit gore. Elements of the magic system involve having something affecting a person's organs/moving inside their body, whichilluminatedspace's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Abortion, Grief, Murder, Confinement, Death, Medical content, Pregnancy, Self harm, Torture, Medical trauma, and Violence
Moderate: War and Gaslighting
Minor: Drug use
naomi_k's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Death, Dysphoria, Miscarriage, Emotional abuse, Gore, Body horror, Confinement, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, and Vomit
Minor: Sexual content and Suicidal thoughts
gayghostprince's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Medical content, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death, Death of parent, and Gore
Moderate: Murder, Violence, Child death, Chronic illness, Medical trauma, War, and Confinement
Minor: Alcohol, Cancer, Chronic illness, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, and Sexual content
ecn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
8/27/23:
Overall I really loved the book and will probably reread again in the future but I wish the ending wasn’t so slippery and I actually had something concrete to hold onto. Butttttttttt, I do love a messy and weird ending for the sole purpose of making you feel how the world felt so I can’t be too mad about it. 3.5/5
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Death, Mental illness, Violence, Vomit, Confinement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Body horror, and Death of parent
rorikae's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Jane Shoringfield is searching for a husband so that she can stay in her small town. With few prospects, she settles on Dr. Augustine Lawrence, the town's doctor. Augustine accepts but he has a few rules that Jane must follow including that he must spend every night at his family's mansion outside of town while Jane stays in town at his surgery. Jane agrees but after unforeseen circumstances on the night of their wedding, Jane ends up at Augustine's home after dark. She finds her husband a husk of the man that he is during the day and this peaks her interest. As she begins to unravel Augustine's history and his family home, she gets pulled deeper into why the home has such sway over her husband.
There are a number of things that I really like about 'The Death of Jane Lawrence.' Starling does a great job with creating atmosphere, especially in the halls of Augustine's family home, Lindridge Hall. I felt pulled along with Jane as she grows fearful of the house and its affect on Augustine. Starling also presents engaging commentary about trauma, shame, and identity. The ending of this story is really fascinating to unpack and I think it would be a great book club book.
My issue with the story are the characters and the pacing. Jane and Augustine are relatively interesting but I never felt that I got to know them well enough that I cared about them. We see a lot of their own trauma and fear but I didn't see enough of their positive traits to fully care or sympathize with them. I also found this book really dragged in parts. In the last third of the book, the pacing gets very slow, which does match with what is happening in the story but was tedious to get through. This may have been less of a problem if I cared more for the characters.
I really enjoyed Starling's novella 'Yellow Jessamine,' which I would also describe as a gothic horror. Because I enjoyed that novella so much, I think that that heightened my disappointment in this book. It's clear that Starling has real talent, especially when it comes to atmosphere and I had hoped for that to mesh better with plot and pacing. Though this book was a bit of a disappointment, I am still interested in Starling's work though I may stick to her shorter pieces.
Graphic: Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Drug use, Body horror, Violence, Death, Blood, Gaslighting, and Gore
Minor: Abandonment, Confinement, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
aardwyrm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Terminal illness, Self harm, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Medical trauma, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Medical content, Miscarriage, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Violence, and Suicidal thoughts