Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon

6 reviews

renardthefox's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Read for A240.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Murder

sophiemartin's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

milesjmoran's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

jessthanthree's review against another edition

mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Forced institutionalization, and Grief

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty and Suicidal thoughts

caia_in_wonderland's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

One of the most surprising stories in classics I’ve read.
I was expecting a romance, but I was faced with a mystery with very deep, candid, gray characters. 
Grief, depression, selfishness, and really beautiful friendships as well as twisted relationships.
It was really interesting story and book, sometimes slow but mostly intense, and in the end it worked out as it was supposed to, just like in the real world where people make evil, bad, naive, and stupid decisions.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Murder

jowmy4's review against another edition

emotional mysterious relaxing slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, and Grief

Moderate: Ableism, Confinement, Death, Incest, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Toxic relationship

Other content worth warning about: bigamy. Regarding the portrayal of mental illness, people with a fairly academic interest about historical and cultural perspectives of "madness" will probably find this book quite interesting, but I suspect that people who are personally affected may find it incredibly upsetting because

one of the characters has "latent insanity", and is essentially the villain of the story. Note also the 'forced institutionalisation' warning.

I also considered warning for homophobia or biphobia because

the main character is almost certainly in love with his (male) friend, and later falls in love with that friend's sister, who looks just like him. So both the main character and the book itself seem to carry some internalised homophobia or biphobia.

The main character, though likable (in my opinion - your mileage may vary), holds some views which are somewhat uncomfortable to modern audiences, especially about women. The author tries to give some sort of an explanation for his opinions about women, but it's a weak excuse at best and not really logically consistent with the timeline of when he has those thoughts. If you going to read this novel, I would say that you have to be prepared to be "preached to". I think that's a warning that can probably apply to most literature of the era (I think all that I have read lately have had at least one moment where the authorial voice gets a bit "preachy" about religious or moral matters, and that's to say nothing of the characters) but the moral preaching does seem particularly strong here.