Reviews

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

claire_dobson's review against another edition

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5.0



Corruption and double dealings set in Victorian England - very good.

amanda_reads89's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

reading_slump's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

gwennyrule's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

hcoulstock's review against another edition

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3.0

i'm gonna say something i never thought i would: i enjoyed the movie better i'm so sorry

i really don't know why when the premise is so interesting. this book was just a struggle to get through. even so, the writing was beautiful and i focused on that to get me through when the pace was too slow.

sarah_graham's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

bohoautumn's review against another edition

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4.0

.
Sarah Waters has been compared to Dickens and Wilkie Collins. Her stories are filled with similar characters and devises such as thieves, villains, madhouses, dark secrets, foggy and filthy London, country mansions, and enough twists and turns in the plot to keep you guessing and gasping.

Unlike Dickens and Collins, she's our contemporary. Her writing therefore offers the modern reader an easier task than the other authors, as well as modern sensibilities. In this case, this translates as swear words and sex. And let's make it lesbian sex for good measure.

If I allowed that point to be the highlight of Fingersmith, I would be doing Waters a great disservice as, unfortunately, too many of hers fan have already done. What makes it a significant part of her novel is that it's unusual. In actuality though, it's a very small portion of the entire story. And the wonderful tale is what gripped me to the very end.

full review @ ink + chai

olivera420's review against another edition

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1.0

1.5 stars
The movie is so much better. Part 1 was good if overly descriptive, the rest is just boring drama about stupid and despicable people, and it felt like it went on forever.

krichardson's review against another edition

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3.0

An interesting plot, but it kind of dragged in some places especially because the middle third repeated the first third.

after_hours_reader's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

4.5