Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Madam by Phoebe Wynne

36 reviews

aliyachaudhry's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Stalking, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Classism, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Child death, Sexism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Body shaming and Abortion

elsebeok's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism

Moderate: Sexual content and Suicide

alylentz's review

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

3.0

This definitely did not go in the direction I thought it would! At a couple points I found the twists a little hard to swallow, but overall I really enjoyed the gothic, mysterious atmosphere here and found it to be a fun ride. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism and Adult/minor relationship

voxelbee's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism, Misogyny, Suicide, Child abuse, Classism, Death, and Gaslighting

Minor: Abortion, Alcoholism, Bullying, Confinement, Homophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Medical content, and Mental illness

esmartd's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

This book was frustrating. The setting was very interesting, but not ever fully fleshed out, which was also true for most of the characters. There was a lot of potential but ultimately didn’t get anywhere interesting in my opinion. I don’t feel like it said anything significant about feminism which is what I think it was going for. 

Rose was such a pushover in so many ways, and I didn’t really understand her behavior most of the time. I was especially upset when it was suggested that the girl who had died the previous year had died during an abortion and Rose didn’t push back on that at all. Dying during an abortion is not a normal or common thing and the fact that she took that art face value was very troubling to me. Even in the 90s, the daughter of an activist feminist would have known better I think. When she spoke out vs when she didn’t was really confusing. I could tell she was starting to go crazy but it was just hard to understand her.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Pedophilia, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Rape and Suicide

hmurff's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Gaslighting, Grief, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, and Pedophilia

Minor: Homophobia, Incest, Rape, Suicide, Pregnancy, and Racism

acoffeeandagoodbook's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

 Read for the Popsugar Reading Challenge prompt "a book with a palindromic title."

I love a good gothic story and dark academia, so Madam was right up my street. None of the 'twists' were especially surprising, but the atmosphere created by the book was oppressive and strange (perfect for this genre).

I found the main character, Rose, a little frustrating at times, but her relationship with her students was sweet, and I enjoyed the parts of the book set in her classroom to be my favourites. The girls she teaches are vibrant and fierce, and I was behind them every step of their way through their journey through this strange school.

None of the reveals were a surprise to me, but this didn't lessen my enjoyment. If anything, I found the opposite. Working out what was going on through the slowly revealed clues gave me a sick feeling of dread, so the payoff of having guessed right was very effective!

The only thing that didn't really work for me was the 90s setting. It felt like it had been set earlier, and then some 90s references to movies and Princess Diana were shoved in for no real reason. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, and Child abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault, Abortion, Suicide, Alcoholism, and Homophobia

Minor: Body shaming

laurenleigh's review

dark mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

The premise of this is right up my alley. It’s got a creepy old boarding school for girls, a setting on the moody cliffs of Scotland, and lots of dark academia content focused on Ancient Greek and Roman mythology. The narrator was also quite skilled, navigating through lots of European accents. The plot was pretty well executed, but the characters fell quite flat, especially our main character. Her backstory was confusing, her relationship with her mother baffling, and her motivations mysterious. I couldn’t connect with her at all. I finally felt some connection to some of the students at the very end, but not enough. I just wish this novel got a bit more workshopping, a bit more editing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism and Misogyny

Moderate: Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual content

Minor: Abortion

caties_books's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Racism, Sexism, Terminal illness, Body shaming, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Lesbophobia, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Colonisation, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death, Suicide, and Xenophobia

Minor: Abortion

mintrogue's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Rape, Xenophobia, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, and Suicide