Reviews tagging 'Cultural appropriation'

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

45 reviews

morenowagain's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Incest, Violence, Cultural appropriation, Terminal illness, Racism, Murder, and Death

ambermarshall's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Poor nameless protagonist, I really identify with her. Painfully shy, deeply insecure, eager to please, huge inferiority complex, incredibly vivid imagination especially for worst-case scenarios. I feel like I would have been the same at that age in that situation.

It starts off slowly but so richly described that it drew me right in, and then in the second half it gripped me tightly and pulled me along. So much is revealed that casts earlier parts in a new light, and I found myself flipping back and forth and rereading earlier passages. The mystery and suspense were excellent, and romance took a back seat (it was all rather chaste as far as romance goes). It ends rather abruptly but I read a little more of the beginning again (which takes place after the events of the book) and it can act as a sort of epilogue as well as prologue, and you get a different reading from it after reading the entire novel.

I confess I had taken the "haunted by Rebecca" literally until I actually read the book and realized there was nothing supernatural going on and it was a metaphorical haunting, which honestly works so well and much better than a literal haunting would have. It just speaks to how huge a personality Rebecca was and how she managed to get so many people in her thrall with her sociopathic wiles to the point that she has so much power over everything even after her death, especially through Mrs. Danvers as her mortal agent.

I do wonder if the beginning might serve better at the end, since it takes away a little bit of the suspense to know that MC and Maxim are away and safe after everything, though I did wonder if maybe they were on the lam.

Overall, I'm hugely impressed. A masterpiece indeed.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Death, Suicide, Terminal illness, Cultural appropriation, Grief, Cancer, Infidelity, and Bullying

laurensilva's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

!!!!!
That's how I felt upon reaching the last lines of the book. What a wild ride.
Rebecca starts quite slowly, focusing heavily on the setting and narrator's relationships to everything around her. But it soon picks up and has your eyes speeding across the pages, desperate for the next bit of the story. Even when you think the story is slowing down, Daphne du Marier snatches you right back into suspense that will have your stomach in knots. 

The main bit that I found tiring throughout was Maxim's treatment of his wife. Every time she interacts with Max, their conversations quickly devolve into him belittling her and treating her like a child. She so quickly and easily falters and backtracks what she has said and meant to better please him. Summed up in my quick as-I-was-reading note: Girl needs a friend and a therapist STAT.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Cultural appropriation

rory_john14's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Murder, Gun violence, Classism, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Death, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Infertility, Misogyny, Sexism, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Alcohol, Cultural appropriation, Medical content, Mental illness, Incest, Alcoholism, Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Violence, Blood, and Grief

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Addiction, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, and Suicidal thoughts

mme_carton's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, Ableism, Alcohol, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Islamophobia

Moderate: Incest, Violence, Infidelity, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Infertility, and Death of parent

klfgasaway's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Ableism

Minor: Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Cultural appropriation, and Incest

midnightcomets's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

 Rebecca was a rather vexing read for me, because I both enjoyed it and wanted it to end. There was something captivating in its mystery, in the lush gardens and its beautiful writing, but at the same time, there was something utterly repulsive about almost every character, and the way they looked at themselves, the world, their relationships and each other. It is a story about revenge and manipulation, control and trauma, and it is as powerful as all these words suggest. However, the constant mention of the main character's feelings towards Maxim, as well as his behaviour towards her made me extremely uncomfortable (that might have been the purpose though).

This book is full of characters who are burning with a million of emotions, usually passion, guilt, fear and anger, and rhododendrons bloom like bloodstains in strong vines and flood the world. I do not know if I recommend this, but I do recommend going in blind if you intend to read it. I also watched both movies for the university, and I enjoyed both adaptations (I recommend these as well). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide

loxeletters's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Grief, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexism

Moderate: Suicide, Terminal illness, Cancer, Cultural appropriation, Death, Alcohol, and Murder

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Incest, Medical content, and Pregnancy

iksme's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

Omg this book was so dull, basically nothing happens for the first 11 hrs of the audiobook then it gets moderately interesting, it doesn't really kick off until the last two hours by which time you're just clinging on so you can say you've read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Murder, Forced institutionalization, Suicide, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Body shaming, Body horror, and Classism

Minor: Infidelity, Infertility, Incest, and Pregnancy

ivana's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The writing was so beautiful and atmospheric that I didn't  really mind how slow this book was for the majority of it. The characters were a bit one noted and the reveals weren't overall that shocking, but the experience of reading this book was definitely more than enjoyable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Cultural appropriation, Death, Infidelity, and Murder