Reviews

Madam by Phoebe Wynne

chlobreads's review

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-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? Yes

3.5

proseplease's review against another edition

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The pacing was super slow and the mystery wasn’t compelling

carlajane's review against another edition

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

4.0

may_books20's review

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3.0

This is Phoebe Wynne’s first novel, so she lacks the subtlety in her characters that is required for a cult mystery. I could immediately tell who was truly evil, who believed they were doing good, who was just brainwashed, and so on and so forth.
The dialogue also didn’t flow as much as I wanted it to, especially the dialogue between Rose and her students. The conversations between Rose and the girls was very random (for lack of a better word) and not thought out well. The chapters also ended very abruptly, without any real segue into the next chapter.

Rose was also much too timid for me. She’s described as this modern feminist woman, but she’s really meek and is constantly getting walked over by students and teachers alike. Except for in the end. Once she found out Caldonbrae’s true purpose, something clicked and she became a true leader. But from the beginning to that point, Rose didn’t scream “powerful female lead” to me.

Despite all of this, Wynne does an excellent job of keeping this secret hidden until exactly the right time. However, the “true devious purpose” of Caldonbrae was…underwhelming. It wasn’t actually nefarious in any way. It was just antiquated and sexist. Which isn’t to say the school isn’t terrible. It is. But the “secret practice” just wasn’t the horrific, shocking truth I was anticipating.

The ending was anticlimactic, albeit empowering. I think the author didn’t really have a sound way to end the book so Rose could escape Caldonbrae forever, so she just came up with something random that had some earlier context backing it. I did like how Caldonbrae was revived by a former student, which meant that Rose’s fight for the girl’s freedom was not over.

In other words, this slow burn wasn’t the fast-paced, plot-twist-packed book I was looking for. However, the descriptions were very detailed and stunning. They were mostly nature-based, which turned out to be extremely gorgeous. The words “darkly feminist” definitely fit this novel perfectly. If you like slow burn mysteries with a feminist agenda, this is the book for you.

“Everywhere punishments, everywhere trapped.”

heathers94's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

erboe501's review

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4.0

This book was gripping! I took longer walks and swapped listening for Netflixing at dinner so I could complete this faster. I saw most of the twists coming a mile away ahead of Rose, but the intrigue was still high. And Wynne pushed the envelope beyond what I expected (worship classes, for example) in a couple instances. Listening to the audio was rewarding to hear the difference between the English at Hope and the Scottish townspeople, a secondary but simmering conflict through the book. The setting in the mid 90s was smart for how it eliminated mobile phones, which contributed to the school's isolation.

The ending I found more satisfying than I expected. As close to a happy ending, perhaps, as could be expected after everything the characters went through.

purple676's review

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3.0

this was good but should have been shorter

pinaybibliophile's review against another edition

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3.5

A tale about the students and teachers in a boarding school set in the Scottish highlands is mindless entertainment.  Had to look up photos of Dunnottar Castle which inspired Caldonbrae Hall and let me just say that the author is perfect at scene- and mood-setting. 

irenetrexqueen's review

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1.0

DNF 50%

First, when did I get bored? About 30%
When did I read a spoiler review? 40%

This book is such a slog. Especially after 40%, it has been nonstop SHE DOESN'T KNOW. For goodness sake, shut your mouth or just spill!

Knowing what is going on and where it is going, thank you for the spoiler review, I'm just going to dip at 50%.

Side note: How is this school supposed to make sense? These parents want their daughter to move up in the world, and yet... just makes no sense, and yeah, maybe if I finished, I would have gotten it, but I'm good, really.

juliette_21's review

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3.0

This book had huge potential, but really disappointed me.
I love Scotland, it's my favorite part of the world and I was so so happy to read a book based in Scotland.
The whole boarding school idea sounded brilliant with a little Harry Potter Vibe to it.

It all went down hill after a hundred pages. The story started to get a bit muddled up and the secret hidden from Rose took up to much place and I was clearly not understand where the story was going.
Everything just seemed to go on and on and the story never seemed to have a sparkle and a punch to it.

When the secret finally unraveled the book just got weird and boring, I only wanted to finish the book and get it over and done with because it just didn't have much to it. The plot could have been great, I was expecting nice mystery not touches of pedophilic men teaching girls how to satisfy a man in a sexual way.

The positive points were the characters, Rose was a nice character and I could see how passionate she was about her job and stood up as best as she could in the horrible situation the girls were bought up in.
The other characters were nice enough but I think that Anthony could have been developed more even though some of his actions were abismal.
The other nice thing in this book was the detailing. I really pictured the story and the environment.

I must say some scenes in this book, as said previously, are really shocking and there's no warning before reading this book. As an avid book reader I could have picked this book up at 13 or 14 and those scenes are very explicit in my opinion.