Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers

27 reviews

jayisreading's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

2.5

I’ll be very honest— I would never have bothered picking this novel up if it weren’t for the fact that it was selected for a book club I somewhat recently joined. Reading the synopsis, there wasn’t anything that particularly stood out to me, so I had low expectations. This ended up being the right call, as I didn’t feel disappointed or felt that my time was wasted. I didn’t find Small Pleasures especially remarkable in either narrative or characters, but this is definitely more a matter of personal interest than anything. I think some readers may find the mystery and eventual romance compelling, and I will say that it is refreshing to have a struggling protagonist who is somewhat older (forty, if I’m remembering correctly). And, to Chambers’ credit, I did like her prose enough. She took a rather quiet and restrained approach that was slightly reminiscent of Kazuo Ishiguro, and I thought she did a good job maintaining that tone while still being able to capture the intense emotions that Jean (the protagonist) felt.

Before reading, I decided to check the reviews out, and I was surprised to see a relatively large number of reviewers who criticized the ending. This somewhat colored my reading experience, especially because I was keen to find out why so many people disliked it. All I can say is that if an afterword is required to explain the ending, then something needs to be reworked (and I will say the ending was unsatisfying). That being said—and to kind of defend the author—I can kind of see why she made this decision, especially considering that she did some foreshadowing at the very start of the novel. Another critique I have that I didn’t see as many people address was how the author decided to handle a lesbian relationship. I didn’t like that it was used as a plot twist, along with the fact that it was somewhat villainized (to me, at least).

I would say take this review with a grain of salt, considering the circumstances that led to me reading it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Abortion

Moderate: Infidelity, Sexism, Rape, and Medical content

Minor: Cancer, Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, and War

irislovescats's review

mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

Such a great book, a mystery without it being the main focus of the book - which I found so gripping combined with the reflective tones of the character’s internal monologue. A few plot twists, which are well set up and timed. Overall, a beautiful book that I would love to be able to read again for the first time 🧡

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity

Minor: Rape and Abortion

nesilla's review

lighthearted medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death, and Cancer

Moderate: Rape

felijhn's review

funny hopeful inspiring mysterious relaxing sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Medical content

Minor: Rape, Terminal illness, Infidelity, and Abortion

imds's review

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Abandonment, Ableism, Car accident, Death of parent, Infidelity, Cancer, Grief, Death, Mental illness, Rape, Abortion, and Confinement

Minor: Antisemitism

jackbifrost's review

hopeful mysterious relaxing sad fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Infidelity, Dementia, Chronic illness, Mental illness, and Medical content

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Terminal illness, Abortion, and Rape

Minor: War and Death of parent

your_true_shelf's review

lighthearted sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity and Rape

sundaybookclub's review

emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Infidelity, Death, Forced institutionalization, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Terminal illness, Confinement, Pregnancy, and Rape

Minor: Cancer

skudiklier's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

I'm worried I'm too emotionally invested at the moment to be writing this review; I don't know how to write about how this book made me feel without writing about the ending. I'll spoiler warning it at the end here, but just know that all spoilers in it are very vague.

Overall I liked this book. I knew absolutely nothing about it going in--not the premise, not the genre, nothing. I picked it solely based on the cover. Throughout the first half of it I just felt a sort of rising tension, as I waited for the shoe to drop. This book was well-written and while the ending devastated me, I don't think it should have been changed. 

This book makes me want to read more by this author, because I really liked how well it showed tiny social things that feel hard to capture/explain but can make a real impact on how a situation feels or a relationship progresses. Small things that Jean worries over momentarily, that just felt really well-done. 

Honestly the ending just is so sad. I wasn't prepared. I wish I'd paid more attention to the dates so that I could have seen it coming. It makes sense as a story but I'm just too close to these characters right now, I feel too sad for them. It made it so I couldn't give this book five stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Abortion, Death, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Dementia, Infidelity, Medical content, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Grief, and Sexual content

Minor: Lesbophobia, Cancer, and Incest

train accident

fleursreads's review

adventurous mysterious relaxing medium-paced

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

4.0

never thought a book about an investigation would be so relaxing

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Homophobia, and Infidelity

Minor: Rape