Reviews

arc. but more time is spent on the dickensian plot than the queer comment so it never feels like a pulpy romance. also for long stretches one of the most depressing texts I've read in a while.

Content Warnings

satujensiivilla's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

3.5

konvineo's review against another edition

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4.0

So this was kind of a emotional free fall to read. Parts of this were so sad and just a touch triggering. But despite that this was a really great book! The story is super interesting, and I found myself getting totally engrossed. The writing style was a bit difficult for me to read in places, I had to go kind of slow to be able to understand. On the other hand in pockets of the book I breezed through.
The book was also a kind of surreal read for almost the first 50% of the book. I had this feeling that I'd read or seen something very similar. Then I reached Maud's part and it finally clicked! This was extremely similar to the movie The Handmaiden. So I looked it up, and sure enough! The Handmaiden is based on Fingersmith, though adapted to a Korean setting. This honestly made the book even more fun to read, because I could compare the book and what I remember of the movie while reading.

So overall, a tough but interesting and engaging read! I think I might read more of Waters books after this.

morr_books's review

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adventurous mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

creeker868's review against another edition

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2.75

Didn’t like the characters. Well written.

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