Scan barcode
cate_with_a_c's review against another edition
Couldn’t get into it. It was too sad and hard to keep track of everything
cinnamonclouds's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
zeus_strider's review
challenging
dark
emotional
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
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Mental illness, Blood, Abortion, Lesbophobia, and Abandonment
anandiyer94's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.25
kalliste's review against another edition
5.0
Oh my, what deviousness this is! Oh my, how I loved it!
I've read a few reviews stating how boring this book was but I never felt that. I didn't mind that the same scenes were re-discovered in the point of view of a different character, in fact, I loved that. I love getting the opportunity to see how different characters experience the same situation and what their thoughts are.
I went into this blind, I didn't know there was a mini series, I didn't know about Tipping the Velvet, I didn't know anything and it was exciting to find it all out for myself. The twists shocked and pleased me, I loved that lack of predictability. I never knew what was coming next and that was incredible, something that rarely happens in a book for me.
A gripping tale with wonderful character relationships. It is a long one, but I read it in less than a week, so it is an easy read. Very much recommended.
I've read a few reviews stating how boring this book was but I never felt that. I didn't mind that the same scenes were re-discovered in the point of view of a different character, in fact, I loved that. I love getting the opportunity to see how different characters experience the same situation and what their thoughts are.
I went into this blind, I didn't know there was a mini series, I didn't know about Tipping the Velvet, I didn't know anything and it was exciting to find it all out for myself. The twists shocked and pleased me, I loved that lack of predictability. I never knew what was coming next and that was incredible, something that rarely happens in a book for me.
A gripping tale with wonderful character relationships. It is a long one, but I read it in less than a week, so it is an easy read. Very much recommended.
sandracanread's review against another edition
It didn’t seem interesting to me. The first chapter was pretty slow and I wasn’t that excited about reading it
amnah_a's review against another edition
5.0
Once upon a time there was me, in my quite comfortable life, and I hadn’t read Fingersmith yet.
Then one day I persuaded my immigrant friend to read it with me since we had so much fun with the last massive mystery thriller we read together.
I explained the plot slowly to her, in the clearest English, and with the appropriate gestures so I wouldn’t overwhelm her immigrant brain. Lesbian victorian gothic mystery? repeated my friend, blinking her immigrant lashes at me, and I heard the click of her Slightly-South-West European finger as she marked it as Want to Read. Yes, I sighed, relieved, and wiped the sweat from my brow after the exhausted effort of portraying the Frankenstein monster and scissoring my fingers together.
It took us 569 days to finish the book, since we were also working on her language lessons. By day 569, her visa had expired and she was sent back home with a broken heart.
I’m going to miss you, she whispered while on the phone to me, her voice broken.
I’m going to miss you too! I wailed.
I wasn’t talking to you, she snapped. You are such a hypocrite and all you ever called me was ‘my favourite immigrant’. I’m only from ITALY. I can’t wait to leave you and your sad rainy country. And I meant that I’m going to miss Sue and Maud.
I howled into the phone: You were so brave and we all loved you and none of us cared that you cooked your pasta sauce with WHOOLE GARLIIICS in your adorably foreign way.
She hung up the phone while I sobbed into the pan of Dolmio sauce I’d made with my undercooked penne. And you knew just how to say PENN-EY, I cried to no-one as the hard pasta crunched between my teeth. Something she said in particular troubled me.
What did she mean by hypocrite?
I glanced down and noticed the shade of my hand through my web of tears. My gaze swivelled to the spice rack. The penn-ey flew out of my mouth in a shower of yellow sparks.
The truth had hit me full force in the chest: I was the immigrant all along.
Did FINGERSMITH have a better plot twist than this? Maybe not. But it blew my fcking mind the same!
Then one day I persuaded my immigrant friend to read it with me since we had so much fun with the last massive mystery thriller we read together.
I explained the plot slowly to her, in the clearest English, and with the appropriate gestures so I wouldn’t overwhelm her immigrant brain. Lesbian victorian gothic mystery? repeated my friend, blinking her immigrant lashes at me, and I heard the click of her Slightly-South-West European finger as she marked it as Want to Read. Yes, I sighed, relieved, and wiped the sweat from my brow after the exhausted effort of portraying the Frankenstein monster and scissoring my fingers together.
It took us 569 days to finish the book, since we were also working on her language lessons. By day 569, her visa had expired and she was sent back home with a broken heart.
I’m going to miss you, she whispered while on the phone to me, her voice broken.
I’m going to miss you too! I wailed.
I wasn’t talking to you, she snapped. You are such a hypocrite and all you ever called me was ‘my favourite immigrant’. I’m only from ITALY. I can’t wait to leave you and your sad rainy country. And I meant that I’m going to miss Sue and Maud.
I howled into the phone: You were so brave and we all loved you and none of us cared that you cooked your pasta sauce with WHOOLE GARLIIICS in your adorably foreign way.
She hung up the phone while I sobbed into the pan of Dolmio sauce I’d made with my undercooked penne. And you knew just how to say PENN-EY, I cried to no-one as the hard pasta crunched between my teeth. Something she said in particular troubled me.
What did she mean by hypocrite?
I glanced down and noticed the shade of my hand through my web of tears. My gaze swivelled to the spice rack. The penn-ey flew out of my mouth in a shower of yellow sparks.
The truth had hit me full force in the chest: I was the immigrant all along.
Did FINGERSMITH have a better plot twist than this? Maybe not. But it blew my fcking mind the same!
’Is this desire? How queer that I, of all people, should not know! But I thought desire smaller, neater; I supposed it bound to its own organs as taste is bound to the mouth, vision to the eye. This feeling haunts and inhabits me, like a sickness. It covers me, like skin.’
lafoliedujour's review against another edition
3.0
3.5
I devoured 600 pages in just three days!
Set in Victorian England, Sue, an orphan raised among thieves, teams up with another thief named Gentleman to swindle a wealthy heiress out of her fortune.
Exquisitely descriptive, fast-paced, and with mind-blowing twists, this was a delight to read.
The first part was almost flawless—the writing, the characters, the plot, the pace—then came the twist. Unfortunately, the subsequent two parts of the novel felt somewhat lacking in comparison. Still, I found myself unable to put the book down, eagerly hoping for it to regain its momentum to no avail.
Although the plot didn’t unfold as I hoped, I’m so impressed by Sarah Waters and cannot wait to read more of hers this year.
I devoured 600 pages in just three days!
Set in Victorian England, Sue, an orphan raised among thieves, teams up with another thief named Gentleman to swindle a wealthy heiress out of her fortune.
Exquisitely descriptive, fast-paced, and with mind-blowing twists, this was a delight to read.
The first part was almost flawless—the writing, the characters, the plot, the pace—then came the twist. Unfortunately, the subsequent two parts of the novel felt somewhat lacking in comparison. Still, I found myself unable to put the book down, eagerly hoping for it to regain its momentum to no avail.
Although the plot didn’t unfold as I hoped, I’m so impressed by Sarah Waters and cannot wait to read more of hers this year.
steadycollie's review against another edition
4.0
Loved the twists and turns in this story. I'm rarely surprised by the turns a story takes but this one caught me off guard. Bravo!
signemai's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-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
3.5