Scan barcode
j_knuckers's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Death, Medical content, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Blood, Medical trauma, Addiction, Alcoholism, Grief, Alcohol, Pregnancy, and Murder
Minor: Mental illness, Death of parent, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Abortion
ceallaighsbooks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
“Ignorant people always fancied that ghosts appeared as shrouded ghouls. Anyone who had suffered loss could tell them differently. Sounds and smells haunted with more persistence, dragged you backwards in a way that nothing else could.”
I strongly encourage you to read the book without reading anyone’s review of it first!
It is actually impossible to talk about what this book is “about” without totally spoiling the book so let me just say that this book takes place in two dual timelines—one in the late 18th c. and one forty years later in the early 19th c.—alternating between the perspective of Louise, the daughter of a physician, and Hester, a maidservant, respectively. Hester’s story starts in London and both stories end in Cornwall.
And just to be safe the rest of my review will be marked as spoilery. But again I strongly encourage you to read the book without reading anyone’s review of it first!
“The cliff face suffered; that was why it looked so stern. Wave after wave, blow after blow, relentless, interminable.”
TW // abduction and sexual abuse of a child alluded to off the page, graphic descriptions of consumption, miscarriage, death of family members to illness, depression, severe grief, hallucinations, psychosis leading to violent actions, murder,
Spoiler vis-a-vis “does the dog die in this one?”: so there is a dog in this book but he doesn’t die until the very end and his death isn’t on the page, it is mentioned only in passing, and it could have been a natural death, although the reader is kind of left to draw their own conclusions...
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Violence
Moderate: Vomit
Minor: Child abuse, Kidnapping, and Pedophilia
More...