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esmartd's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Graphic: Pedophilia, Sexism, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Rape and Suicide
hmurff's review against another edition
2.5
Graphic: Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, and Gaslighting
Minor: Homophobia, Incest, Racism, Rape, Suicide, and Pregnancy
caties_books's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Abortion
patricia0227's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, and Terminal illness
Minor: Suicide and Abortion
adelaidebijou's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
4.0
Graphic: Body shaming and Bullying
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Confinement, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, and Death of parent
Minor: Abortion
jamieleepilk's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Welcome to Caldonbrae Hall, an isolated school for girls where the girls "value" is placed higher than all else. This book wasn't what I was expecting. To be honest I was steering clear from reading to much about it because it felt like a book with lots of mystery. I was surprised by the time of the book set in the 1990s, for some reason I was expecting it to be a lot earlier and with the creepiness of the novel it feels like an old victorian gothic!
Everything is told from the point of view Rose, the newly recruited classics teacher who is at least half the age of the other teachers in the school. Rose is the first new teacher in quite some time. For most of the first half of the novel she is kept in the dark and as the reader you are kept from information about how the school is run and what happened Jane the old classics tutor. I personally loved Rose as an antagonist, she felt very real and reacted how some-one in her situation should react. Her relationships with the girls are varied and I loved the lighter sides of the novel with Rose teaching Nessa, Freddie and Daisy and her relationship towards those three girls.
The addition of the Greek classic plays was brilliant and was done in a way that even if you're aren't aware of these plays before hand you won't miss out. The Heroines stories being interweaved with the lives of Rose and the girls was a great element.
Parts of this book hard to read, especially towards the end. And some parts of this book did want me to scream and chuck the book across the room similar feelings I had with reading books like The Handmaid's Tale and Vox.
Overall I really enjoyed it and I did find it hard to put it down, the writing is extremely smooth so you do read pretty quickly. Some sections and interactions started to feel a bit repetitive after the half way point, if not for that it would have easily been five stars.
📖 If you liked/For Fans of 📖
Plain Bad Heroines by Emily Danforth
Circe by Madeline Miller
The Power by Naomi Alderman
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, and Abortion
Moderate: Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, and Sexual violence