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xom4e's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Self harm, Violence, Murder, and Rape
Moderate: Sexual violence, Death, Infertility, Abandonment, Abortion, Child death, Body shaming, Cursing, Pregnancy, Bullying, Confinement, Deportation, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, and Violence
zzaakkiiyyaa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Rape, Miscarriage, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Death of parent
Minor: Abortion, Suicide, Child death, and Self harm
beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, and Violence
Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit
Minor: Ableism and Child death
outsmartyourshelf's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
This has all the elements of a great read for me: historically based, a strong cast of characters, and a murder mystery upon a ship, and yet something was missing. I'm a fairly fast reader but it took me almost six days to read the book which suggests the narrative didn't hold my attention as well as it should.
The story is told from the point of view of two characters, Kezia and Clara (who has stolen her identity from another unfortunate convict), and I did like the character of Kezia and her shy romance with the Captain was a welcome distraction from the unrelenting grimness of the rest of the story. It was okay but it didn't wow me.
Thanks to NetGalley and publishers, Penguin Michael Joseph UK, for the opportunity to read an ARC. I am voluntarily giving an honest review.
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Violence
Minor: Child death and Child abuse
krissysbooked's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Dangerous Women follows almost 200 convict women as they embark on a voyage from London, UK to Hobart, Australia as punishment for the various crimes in the mid-1800s. Along the way, they complete a patchwork quilt known as the Rajah quilt, after the boat they are travelling on. I was surprised at the end of the book to find out that all of this is true but the story of what happened on the voyage presented by Adams is fictitious.
The book is written from multiple character viewpoints and bounces between the early days of the voyage under 'Then' chapters, and later days after the incident under 'Now' chapters. I found this really difficult to get my head around to start with and was confused as to who was who and had to keep checking if I was in a 'Then' or 'Now' chapter. Perhaps a character list to reference may be helpful to the reader, as although it was confusing I suspect this was intended as the characters themselves were trying to work out who was responsible.
Despite the confusion, I thought it was well written and I enjoyed the history aspect of the story especially with the ambition to highlight the issues faced by women of the time, where many were convicted of crimes that were committed as an act of survival as opposed to true malevolence. Sadly many of these issues and circumstances still exist today.
It isn't a book that blew me away but it was an enjoyable and enlightening read and I'm off to find out more about this ship, the blanket and it's history. It would also be nice, in the final version of the book, to see sketches or photos of the sections of the blanket referenced in the descriptions at the beginning of each chapter.
Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Grief, Medical content, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts
As part of the characters back stories there are mentions of the circumstances they were in and the things they did in order to survive. None are done in too much detail but they are still upsetting especially if you have personal experience of any of them,