Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - Carol

So many thoughts.
This was a very testing read. I loved their relationship and hated it at the same time. Carol’s attitude towards Therese was at times inexplicable to me. But looking at the bigger picture and the book as a whole, it feels different. And Therese’s hyperfixation on Carol was also so well-written and conveyed. I didn’t like how she were pitting herself against Carol’s daughter, or even that she find any fault in Carol thinking of Rindy first, before her relationship.
I’d also love to read this story from Carol’s perspective.

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Update I watched the movie. The cast was perfect, the movie conveyed the exact feeling of the book, even taking over some of the dialogue. I’m in love. Will be my favourite movie for a while probably.

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Re-read 29/12/2022
This book is so beautiful and even more I think once you’ve already read it once and know why Carol and Therese are acting in a certain way.

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serenedancer's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

Overall it was well written, but I couldn't get into it. I liked the characters and the relationships were good.

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frantically's review against another edition

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emotional reflective 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

3.0

lesbian yearning this, lesbian yearning that, where is the PLOT

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mysimas's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective 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

3.5

Carol, a sister book to Forster’s Maurice.

Maybe it was me, maybe it was the book, but the prose, although beautiful, sometimes confused me. A lot of the first half was also kind of a blur for me, most scenes didn’t really stand out or apart, though I felt quite charmed by the overall feel.

Therese’s growth was beautiful to witness and reminiscent of aforementioned Maurice or even Pride and Prejudice. Carol did some growing of her own, too, and she was one of the more convincing love interests I’ve encountered in fiction.

Definitely a book I would like to reread, this time carefully looking for the paralels as well as the uncanny synchronicity of thought that Carol and Therese seemed to display at times.

Last but not least, shoutout to the worst line ever and the pretty great one that followed right after:

The milk seemed to taste of bone and blood, of warm flesh, or hair, saltless as chalk yet alive as a growing embryo.
It was hot through and through to the bottom of the cup, and Therese drank it down, as people in fairy tales drink the potion that will transform, or the unsuspecting warrior the cup that will kill.

(Seriously, I almost wept at the contrast.)

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