Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

The Magnolia Palace by Fiona Davis

4 reviews

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

thecorbinocaper's review

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This book had a lot of potential but just didn’t hit for me. I found the characters to be mostly one dimensional and thoughtless. I thought the most intriguing character was Joshua Lawrence, a Black assistant curator/intern of the Frick collection (1966) and I wish that he was more fully developed in the narrative. His challenges of navigating the world of museums and art would have added so much rather than simply alluded to here and there.  The comparison of modeling in 1919 and 1966 was interesting, as were the scant references to the Spanish Flu and descriptions of art. but overall it fell flat for me and I wish the background details had been brought more to the forefront. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Terminal illness, and Child death

Minor: Murder and Domestic abuse

martamae77's review

emotional lighthearted mysterious medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Body shaming

Minor: Terminal illness, Murder, Racism, Sexism, Body horror, Medical content, War, and Gun violence