Reviews with content warning for Murder - The Collector

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Collector by John Fowles

11 reviews

sapphirestorm's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

reallife_kazbrekker's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book was horrible to read, it hated every second of it. But it was also one of the best books I have read in a long time.

I cried for Miranda and any future girls he will abduct, they deserve so much better than to spend their last days in a prison cell.

It feels incredibly weird to rate this book 5 stars, but it was just so good in my opinion... Again I hated reading it, but that's the whole point. You're supposed to hate it.

Content Warnings

elaba25's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I have never been so angry in reading the last 20 pages of a novel. I’ll be honest, the first half of this book was fairly average to me but Miranda’s diaries and their reflections on art, morality, love, and violence were stunning and made me love her (and hate GP).

Content Warnings

meenot's review against another edition

4.5

dark funny tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

jo_jo_la_pinks's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

silver_lining_in_a_book's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I am one in a row of specimens. It's when I try to flutter out of line that he hates me. I'm meant to be dead, pinned, always the same, always beautiful. He knows that part of my beauty is being alive, but it's the dead me he wants. He wants me living-but-dead.

This book took me by total surprise. If not for a friends recommendation and insistence on me giving this book a try, I don't think I ever would have. I am so glad I did; not because I enjoyed the reading experience or found the plot particularly entertaining, it was quite the opposite. It was the character building, exploration of class-structures in society and the portrayal of our obsession with all things superficial and beautiful that really stood out to me and made this book worth reading.

There is a lot of emphasis on a person's ability to create and to progress, our complex thoughts and actions being what makes us human and how the desire to hoard, capture and collect kills the beauty in whatever it is that you seek to preserve. I am certain that there is a lot in this book that I missed, but I certainly felt for the characters - Frederick disturbed me immensely and I absolutely loved Miranda and wanted her to be alright. Reading from her perspective made me feel more claustrophobic and near-panic than I have ever felt while reading a book. It is incredible to me that John Fowles was able to transfer her feelings and thoughts so vividly through pages, and as letter / diary entries no less.

It is very difficult to rate a book like this. As I have said before, it is not fun to read, but it is not meant to be; it is disturbing, triggering and ultimately very unsatisfying, but it is unique and incredibly successful in achieving what Fowles set out for it to accomplish. He deserves high praise, I doubt many writers would be able to create what he managed to here.

Content Warnings

abby_dexar's review against another edition

4.5

dark reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Genuinely enjoyed the book, especially from the perspective of written two different point of views! Fowels created great, believable and motivated characters and a story that intrigued, scared and fascinated me at the same time. It’s dark, triggering and well-written. Yes, it’s unhealthy and creepy, so be careful if you want to read it.

Content Warnings

izzystorm's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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: Yes

Content Warnings

helenahao's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Content Warnings

bentenuala's review against another edition

0.25

dark sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I did not like reading this book, the writing was good, but the plot and characters weren’t, maybe they were at the time it was written, but not for the 21st century. World building was almost nonexistent too, overall, not something I’d recommend to read in either your free time, or for school.

Content Warnings

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