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shardik9982's review
dark
tense
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
alliepreston's review
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
mjai13's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
3.5
emmakitt's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
alinahgn's review against another edition
4.0
“The Beguiled” is a very enjoyable novel set in Virginia during the time of the American Civil War and telling the story of the wounded soldier John McBurney taken in by the residents of the Seminary for Young Ladies, where he causes a lot of trouble over the time.
I really enjoyed how each chapter was written from the perspective of a different girl or teacher, viewing the happenings and the character of John McBurney through the eyes of the girls makes the reader feel like being a part of the girls and it made me feel more immersed into the story. This really was a clever way of presenting the story to the reader, as it also lets one get to know the characters more intimately.
Witnessing the story and especially Johns character enfold in front of your eyes through the girl‘s point of views was very interesting. I enjoyed how the novel portrayed the themes of rivalry, revenge, manipulation and sexuality and I also like how the book actually made me laugh a few times.
I really enjoyed how each chapter was written from the perspective of a different girl or teacher, viewing the happenings and the character of John McBurney through the eyes of the girls makes the reader feel like being a part of the girls and it made me feel more immersed into the story. This really was a clever way of presenting the story to the reader, as it also lets one get to know the characters more intimately.
Witnessing the story and especially Johns character enfold in front of your eyes through the girl‘s point of views was very interesting. I enjoyed how the novel portrayed the themes of rivalry, revenge, manipulation and sexuality and I also like how the book actually made me laugh a few times.
rachel1106's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Dark, gothic tale that is slow, but full of suspense. Nicely written. The ending is a bit anticlimactic, but it makes sense the precautions that would be taken, given how worse the outcome would've been for a house of young ladies, whose side of the war has been lost.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Animal death, Classism, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Racism, Racial slurs, and Alcoholism
erboe501's review
3.0
I read this book because I'm doing a presentation on Sofia Coppola's 2017 adaptation. I found her movie unsettling in some way; I just couldn't get it out of my head. So I listened to a podcast about how she erased the black female slave character from Cullinan's original novel. This turned into my presentation topic: how the erasure of the slave Mattie from the movie contributes to a racialized Southern identity, the product of years of ignoring black experiences when constructing Southern memory and history.
I came to the novel after watching both the 2017 and 1971 film versions. You get to know the characters better in the book, obviously, because the pov alternates among all the women, even Mattie. I think the narrative drags out too long. You think you've hit the climax but then the final climax is a good bit later. The Union soldier, Corporal McBurney, is much younger in the book (about 20 years old) than he's portrayed in the movies, which I think is important to his perceived innocence or mischievousness. The movies also conflate a few of the female characters, which helps keep everything straight.
An interesting read to give context to the films, but I can see why this fell out of print after its publication before the 2017 adaptation.
I came to the novel after watching both the 2017 and 1971 film versions. You get to know the characters better in the book, obviously, because the pov alternates among all the women, even Mattie. I think the narrative drags out too long. You think you've hit the climax but then the final climax is a good bit later. The Union soldier, Corporal McBurney, is much younger in the book (about 20 years old) than he's portrayed in the movies, which I think is important to his perceived innocence or mischievousness. The movies also conflate a few of the female characters, which helps keep everything straight.
An interesting read to give context to the films, but I can see why this fell out of print after its publication before the 2017 adaptation.
sarieinsea's review
4.0
I really, really enjoyed this book. It's kind of hard to explain the tone - I think the word I'd use is "unsettling" because you never really know which characters, if any, you can trust or what exactly happened. The narrative shifts each chapter, so that you hear the perspectives of each of the women at the Farnsworth school, but you never hear from the soldier, Johnny. I kept changing my mind about the characters and what I thought was going on in the school as I read, but by the end you can draw a pretty strong conclusion about what happened.
The story is simple - one of the younger students at a ladies' school in Virginia finds an injured Union soldier in the woods nearby and brings him back to the house for care. The stern headmistress, Martha, is initially very apprehensive to allow him to stay, but ultimately decides to tend to his wounds and try to nurse him to health before turning him in to Confederate soldiers. While Johnny is recovering, he forms connections with each of the ladies in the house, the youngest of whom is ten. This causes them to begin to argue and turn against one another, and things slowly descend into chaos after two of the older girls fight over him and the physical brawl results in his leg breaking and his condition drastically worsening. Martha decides that the only way to preserve his life is to amputate his leg at the knee, which she does (in a fairly gruesome scene and without Johnny's consent).
After that, as they say, all hell breaks loose. Johnny begins to exact revenge on the ladies, and it becomes clear that no one is trustworthy, none of them are incapable of cruelty, and the situation isn't going to resolve itself neatly.
This is definitely a slow burn, but it's a fascinating and chilling read.
The story is simple - one of the younger students at a ladies' school in Virginia finds an injured Union soldier in the woods nearby and brings him back to the house for care. The stern headmistress, Martha, is initially very apprehensive to allow him to stay, but ultimately decides to tend to his wounds and try to nurse him to health before turning him in to Confederate soldiers. While Johnny is recovering, he forms connections with each of the ladies in the house, the youngest of whom is ten. This causes them to begin to argue and turn against one another, and things slowly descend into chaos after two of the older girls fight over him and the physical brawl results in his leg breaking and his condition drastically worsening. Martha decides that the only way to preserve his life is to amputate his leg at the knee, which she does (in a fairly gruesome scene and without Johnny's consent).
After that, as they say, all hell breaks loose. Johnny begins to exact revenge on the ladies, and it becomes clear that no one is trustworthy, none of them are incapable of cruelty, and the situation isn't going to resolve itself neatly.
This is definitely a slow burn, but it's a fascinating and chilling read.