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winnimartha's review against another edition
4.0
Mostly quite good, though I found the section narrated by Maud a bit dull -- Sue was just a more engaging narrator.
lostinfrance's review against another edition
1.0
Oh, dear GOD!!!! This book was SO SLOW....and it took forever to get to the "climax"....and then there was really no end. Ugh, bad, bad...run!
I was so excited when the saleswoman at Strand told me that this book was a young adult book that took place during the 1800s....and if I liked Austen, I would love this.... Ummmm.....Had she ever read Austen? So bad....as bad as the innuendos made by the title of the book. Just BAD. I do not recommend...don't bother to pick it up and don't waste your money.
This book is about a girl who pretends to be a maid for a girl living in a horrible situation....so that she can take advantage of her and put her in an insane assylum. There are twists....and it all takes forever to be put in place. YAWN. BORING.
I was so excited when the saleswoman at Strand told me that this book was a young adult book that took place during the 1800s....and if I liked Austen, I would love this.... Ummmm.....Had she ever read Austen? So bad....as bad as the innuendos made by the title of the book. Just BAD. I do not recommend...don't bother to pick it up and don't waste your money.
This book is about a girl who pretends to be a maid for a girl living in a horrible situation....so that she can take advantage of her and put her in an insane assylum. There are twists....and it all takes forever to be put in place. YAWN. BORING.
andreacpowers's review against another edition
4.0
There are many other recaps on Goodreads so I won't bother.
Almost 5 stars. I was happy to have to book to dive into each evening. The book is long enough to take me a few days to read it (I have Dog Interruptus here). I didn't guess the first twist until I read it. That was a great feeling.
Almost 5 stars. I was happy to have to book to dive into each evening. The book is long enough to take me a few days to read it (I have Dog Interruptus here). I didn't guess the first twist until I read it. That was a great feeling.
karleom36's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
ephemeralbreeze's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
maeriaen's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
bbckprpl's review against another edition
4.0
I finished Fingersmith a couple of weeks ago, but I've had a hard time putting together my thoughts on it. I mean: I liked it. A lot. Sarah Waters is a new-to-me author, whose backlist I'm certainly going to be checking out, because Damn, can that lady craft a story. I have a lot of kudos to give the book, and I'm going to try to get to them all in this review. Where I'm conflicted though, is... the twisty-turny nature of the plot. Even saying that the plot is complex and takes many unexpected turns feels like I'm giving things away, and so much of my enjoyment of this novel came from being completely surprised by what was going on that I don't want to ruin it for anybody else.
At the same time, I really think you should read this, so I've got to figure out how to tempt you into to doing that without spilling all the beans. Hence the weeks of trying to come up with a logical, legible review. Let's start here - this book reads much faster than a book set in the Dickensian past ought to. Usually, if you're wandering through that time period with an author, you have plenty of time for dallying and dithering, to catch scenes of pastoral beauty or the cluttered, smoke-choked of olde-time London's sinners' dens & paupers' streets. But Waters gives neither her characters or her readers the opportunity to settle in and get comfortable - right from the beginning, there is action and reaction, an unending pace and patter, so much happening that you have to be paying such close attention at all times, lest you find yourself left behind.
There's such an urgency to the book, to everything that's happening and who it's happening to, that I will admit to being left behind more than once: but I was in good company, as most of the characters often seemed as perplexed by their situations as I did.
I came up with lots of ways to describe the action in this book, but all of them give away too much, gives a new reader too much of a head start, and I think part of the joy of the book is trying to catch up, trying to figure it out, so I'm not going to tell you all those things. I'm just going to tell you that there are some amazing characters in here - well-drawn, intricate, portraits of people that seems so real that when the plot starts twisting make you question all you thought you knew about them. That's really all I can say without giving too much away! Can't you just trust me when I tell you, this is a really good book?
I also want to make note that if you have issues surrounding mental health/illness and mistreatment, there are some disturbing (but unfortunately true to the period) scenes in an asylum that may be triggering. Just a heads up.
At the same time, I really think you should read this, so I've got to figure out how to tempt you into to doing that without spilling all the beans. Hence the weeks of trying to come up with a logical, legible review. Let's start here - this book reads much faster than a book set in the Dickensian past ought to. Usually, if you're wandering through that time period with an author, you have plenty of time for dallying and dithering, to catch scenes of pastoral beauty or the cluttered, smoke-choked of olde-time London's sinners' dens & paupers' streets. But Waters gives neither her characters or her readers the opportunity to settle in and get comfortable - right from the beginning, there is action and reaction, an unending pace and patter, so much happening that you have to be paying such close attention at all times, lest you find yourself left behind.
There's such an urgency to the book, to everything that's happening and who it's happening to, that I will admit to being left behind more than once: but I was in good company, as most of the characters often seemed as perplexed by their situations as I did.
I came up with lots of ways to describe the action in this book, but all of them give away too much, gives a new reader too much of a head start, and I think part of the joy of the book is trying to catch up, trying to figure it out, so I'm not going to tell you all those things. I'm just going to tell you that there are some amazing characters in here - well-drawn, intricate, portraits of people that seems so real that when the plot starts twisting make you question all you thought you knew about them. That's really all I can say without giving too much away! Can't you just trust me when I tell you, this is a really good book?
I also want to make note that if you have issues surrounding mental health/illness and mistreatment, there are some disturbing (but unfortunately true to the period) scenes in an asylum that may be triggering. Just a heads up.