Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters

9 reviews

ranbara's review against another edition

dark emotional funny sad slow-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

5.0

oh.. this is the book of all time. to be a tom from whitstable in 1888..

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Infidelity, Sexual content, Miscarriage, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Drug use, Grief, Death, Alcohol, Cursing, Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Blood, Forced institutionalization, and Abandonment

outerscout's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

if therapy were both around & helpful in the 1890s i'd say nancy needs it. a beautiful story with a beautiful, hopeful ending

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, and Confinement

Moderate: Transphobia, Racism, Abandonment, and Racial slurs

tiernanhunter's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Rape, Abandonment, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Classism, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Racial slurs, and Grief

marleywrites's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

This review will contain spoilers. 

“Tipping the Velvet” covers a span of about eight years in the life of Nancy Astley, from age 18-25. Nancy essentially has her gay awakening in her small hometown where she helps prepare oysters when a musical act of Miss Kitty Butler arrives at the theater. The two eventually grow closer and their relationship blooms, plateaus, and falls. The rest of the novel follows the aftermath of everything, and how Nancy moves on from it all. 

I found this novel to be extremely impressive. I was engaged from the start— the prose is beautiful and visceral, and the author painted a realistic picture of Nancy’s perspective throughout this novel. Nancy’s emotions are strong and intense, and we see the range of feelings she experiences in exquisite detail. 

I found Nancy’s story fascinating. Her character was well-developed and we saw her grow throughout the novel in a fascinating and treacherous way. Nancy has been through a lot— and in a way, she’s quite privileged through some of situations she finds herself in. However she is simultaneously a survivor of multiple questionable sexual situations with a partner who has a significant powerful advantage over he, she is a renter, she loses everything all at once. 

What I found most intriguing was the emotional changes that Nancy experiences throughout the story. The shift from Kitty being the only thing that can save her, to realizing she doesn’t need her at all anymore, is one that I think anyone who’s had a first love and first heartbreak can relate to. The emotional distance she holds herself at with Diana, with Zena, and with Florence (at first) protects her, but also hurts her. I enjoyed watching the slow but steady shift as she learned to trust and love again, and to recognize it as something steadier, and to learn what it means to have a partner who is proud to be yours. 

The writing style of this author has captured me completely— when I finished this novel I immediately went and added all the rest of her work to my TBR. This was a stunning debut and I can’t wait to read the backlist. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Infidelity

Moderate: Death, Violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Cursing, Drug use, Racial slurs, Abandonment, Blood, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Emotional abuse, and Outing

Minor: Miscarriage and Racism

caroluvr's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, Abandonment, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Dysphoria and Transphobia

confusedmuse's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

It was a bit slow at the start for me, but once I got used to the style, the story really hits. A must read for LGBT+ fiction.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual content, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Classism, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Abandonment, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Drug use and Cursing

cutewitch's review

adventurous emotional slow-paced

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

5.0

My god! I feel a fool for putting off this book for so long. Astounding—easily one of, if not my best books of the year. Not just a book, but literature… something I’ve been missing! Yes, my only complaint is that the beginning is slow; it’s true, the first 3 or 4 chapters I had a hard time getting through. But after that—wow, did I race through it this week! Yes, Nan is unlikable, but she’s real; isn’t that part of the point? You want your heroines to be perfect all the time? She is real, and quite unique, and all the characters around her are equally fleshed out. I also kind of wish that it was historically accurate; I didn’t realize it wasn’t until I read that bit bu the author included in someone else’s review. But that doesn’t really take away from it—the world feels so real, who cares if it isn’t?

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, and Toxic relationship

vanadiumbean's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Grief, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Cursing, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

cnidariar3x's review

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Gorgeous sapphic bildungsroman with a sprinkle of "Napoleon Dynamite", a pinch of Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" but sticks the landing much better with more nuance than either.

I love this book so much.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Lesbophobia, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Racial slurs, Confinement, Classism, Racism, Infidelity, and Outing