Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis

8 reviews

meggiemeggie52's review against another edition

adventurous informative mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I thought it was good! The story was solid, if slow-going for the majority of the time--though the pace did pick up at the end which was nice. I liked the multiple viewpoints, but the 1919 timeline felt like the stronger storyline with more nuanced characters. Veronica and Joshua were likable enough, but they felt flat compared to Lillian and Helen.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Grief

Moderate: Murder, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Bullying

Minor: Medical content, Blood, and Racism

litliz's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Classism, Confinement, Murder, Bullying, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual assault, Grief, Sexual harassment, and Terminal illness

kimveach's review against another edition

emotional informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

An interesting novel set in the Frick Mansion in NYC at two different times: 1919 and 1966.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Racism, Classism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Bullying, Child death, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Terminal illness, Death, and Medical content

lauramparis's review

lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, Classism, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Infidelity

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Grief, Misogyny, and Sexism

Minor: Stalking, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Murder, Racism, and Sexual harassment

missingmybreezy's review

informative relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 There is no doubt I am a fan of Fiona Davis. I like her writing style and the way she expresses her characters. I love the fact that she writes her novels around a feature building - almost making it a character in itself. And now she has begun to write about women, from the past, who were not given their due and have all but been forgotten. 

This particular book treats us to the Frick mansion - later a museum - which is still in operation today. It is split between two time frames each highlighting a woman. Miss Lilly who accidentally becomes the personal assistant to Helen Frick in the early 1900's, living in the Frick home, and Veronica who in the early 1960's accidentally gets locked into the Frick Museum. 

There is lost family jewels, infidelity, murders, and reconciliation by the time the story ends. And in the Author's Notes we also get a summary of what happened to these women - true to life living women - on which the book story is based along with the Frick mansion/museum. 

And now the wait begins - what building will be next brought to life - what barely known woman will again be in the limelight? Whatever it is, whoever it is, when Davis writes it, I will be in line to read it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, and Grief

laura_berger's review

adventurous hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Bullying, War, and Murder

katisreading's review

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

I am so glad I picked this as my book of the month for January! This type of historical fiction, where real events are the backdrop for a fictional story that’s woven in, are my favorite and this author did a fantastic job. I was pretty invested in just the scavenger hunt piece, so when that ended earlier than I expected and it turned into a little bit of a murder mystery? Top notch. I’m not one to go out of my way to look at old art, but maybe I’ll have to go look up some of the things mentioned in this story just based on how lovingly they were described.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and War

Moderate: Bullying

Minor: Suicide attempt

mags_reads_'s review

mysterious relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse