Reviews with content warning for Suicide - Madam

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Madam by Phoebe Wynne

40 reviews

voxelbee's review

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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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esmartd's review against another edition

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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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fortunavhs's review

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dark mysterious sad slow-paced

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

This book in theory had all the components to make me love it - I got on very well with the writing style and adored the setting. I mostly enjoyed the slow pace, but the time between the reveal of the twist and the climax of the story felt too drawn out, and then the ending itself very rushed.

This book ends with an exceptionally bleak ending. It's not for you if you're looking for a story about overcoming misogynistic institutions.

I was especially unsettled by the ending, not that being unsettled is a bad thing! But by killing off so many characters simultabeously the impact just didn't really sink in, and I'm genuinely quite distressed that most of the girls Rose tried to save died. I don't mind sad endings but I was genuienly disturbed by the fact that a character who had been groomed and sexually abused by her teacher died with him. Also, I'm getting frustrated that the inclusion of LGBT characters in so many books these days is for them to be a supporting character who suffers and gets a miserable ending/death that's contrasted with the heterosexual lead surviving or getting a happily ever after.

I didn't mind the 90s setting at all, though I see some reveiwers did - I think the explicit assocations to the breakdown of Charles' and Diana's marrage was really interesting. The interludes of prominent women in Greek/Roman culture were a fantastic touch!

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hmurff's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

2.5

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acoffeeandagoodbook's review against another edition

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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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aswift1's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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laurenleigh's review

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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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