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dorynickel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Sometimes the characters seem not fully fleshed out, but then the two main characters' respective malleability and opaqueness are so intentional that I can't really take away points for this.
Above all, Waters' prose and storytelling are what makes this book stand out within the oft-derided "girly novel" genre. (Although it did take me a chapter or two to get used to the journal framing, with its varying syntaxes and mixed tenses.) I will admit that I didn't take this book seriously enough at first, and I was pleasantly surprised by the mastery with which Waters weaves the substance of the story and its candid prose together with the tropes inherent in its subject matter. Give yourself permission to take a sapphic Victorian Gothic mystery ghost novel seriously, and you're in for a real treat!
Graphic: Classism, Mental illness, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Sexual assault and Suicide
Minor: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Homophobia
grayshuff's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Suicide, Mental illness, Confinement, and Abandonment
quechaya's review against another edition
3.5
Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Grief
Minor: Rape, Pregnancy, Child death, Death of parent, Abortion, and Body horror
honeyenbee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Minor: Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts
nannahnannah's review against another edition
Margaret Prior, an upper-class lady recovering from a suicide attempt, is visiting the women of Millbank Prison in an act of charity and in hopes that she will also gain some benefit and ... "perspective". It's there she meets (and becomes more and more fascinated by) Selina Dawes, the Spiritualist, imprisoned after one of her Seances left a woman dead. Margaret doesn't believe in her powers at first, but as her visits to the women's wards grow more frequent, she becomes entangled in Selina's Spirits. It eventually manifests into a plot to free Selina, but the plot is much more complicated than Margaret thinks.
I was definitely not prepared for this book. It's not a fast read, and it's not a lightweight read, that's for sure. But wow, I didn't think it would be that intense, either. I really don't want to give anything away, though, so I won't spill anything about how it ends.
Is it a tragic lesbian book? Not quite. So don't be turned away by anyone who says that it's so. But it isn't a happy read either (then again if you're familiar with Sarah Waters, I think that's pretty clear anyway).
The book plays with "what-ifs" in almost every aspect. It's told through a series of journal entries in both Margaret and Selina's PoV's, so you're never sure what's true. Are Selina's spirits real? Is Peter Quick -- Selina's main Spirit -- real? You never find out, and after reading it really can go both ways. That's basically how the book reads. Many parts of it can go in several ways. It's up to you to decide how you want to view it.
I can't say I didn't enjoy the book, because it was just so well written! But it was just so heavy and dark that I think it wouldn't be something I'd read over and over again.
Moderate: Suicide
horizonous's review against another edition
- 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
3.25
Graphic: Confinement
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Mental illness, Self harm, and Suicide
Minor: Cancer, Abortion, Blood, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Torture, Animal cruelty, Death, and Domestic abuse
◦ Drug abuse = Laudanum◦ Mental illness = Anxiety, depression
nialiversuch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Confinement, Drug use, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Abortion and Child death
Minor: Alcohol and Terminal illness
ehmannky's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Self harm
Moderate: Confinement and Mental illness
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Cancer, and Sexual assault
jonesmonster's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Addiction, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Mental illness, Self harm, and Sexism