Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell

31 reviews

charisw's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.5

This isn’t a bad book, but it’s not my cup of tea. The whole book felt so heavy for me. The main character’s complete and utter lack of agency and control, while an important theme in the novel, was really triggering for me. I hated reading it, honestly, because it felt so heavy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Infertility, Misogyny, Violence, Animal cruelty, Blood, Confinement, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Torture, Classism, Sexism, Grief, Toxic relationship, Blood, Violence, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Gore, and Sexual assault

lorenag5's review

challenging emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Death, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Pregnancy, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Infidelity

nialiversuch's review

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Confinement, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, and Infertility

Moderate: Pregnancy, Sexism, and Medical content

cadybooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Confinement, Death, Medical content, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Infertility, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Eating disorder

Minor: War, Animal death, Alcohol, Fatphobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Blood

newton's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense 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? No

3.0

Okay so. Generally I did enjoy this book, it kept me coming back for more every time I finished a chapter. It did a great job of building tension — especially towards the end — and I really did care about Lucrezia. However… I do have some thoughts. (spoilers below) 

This one is pretty major and has to do with the very end of the book, so be warned. Emilia. Oh my love Emilia. She was so lovely from the moment she was introduced, and her relationship with Lucrezia broke my heart. The author did a lot of good work to establish their friendship/sisterhood, and I loved Emilia so very much. 

With that said, I really do feel that she existed ONLY as Lucrezia’s loyal servant. An obvious example is her scar (gotten from playing with Lucrezia/foreshadowing that Lucrezia will be Emilia’s end), but this is MOST clear in how Emilia died. Unnamed and unmourned by anyone, not even Lucrezia! I wish I could say that she should have gone back for Emilia after her escape (or at least like, considered that Emilia looks like her and is ASLEEP IN HER BED. And there are men COMING TO KILL HER), but honestly? I never got the impression that Lucrezia gave much of a shit about Emilia outside of her loyalty and companionship. 

This could have been a place for O’Farrell to explore the self-centered nature of nobility or the ways that Lucrezia IS privileged despite her gendered oppression as Alfonso’s wife. However, this doesn’t seem to have been given much of a thought, and Emilia was reduced to a simple plot device in order to allow Lucrezia to survive where history insists she did not. 

A few more nit-picky issues I had: 

If Alfonso was going to kill Lucrezia, why would he poison her only to then smother her a day or so later? I feel like it would make much more sense for the venison and wine to have contained a deadly poison rather than a poison that weakened her, though granted, I won’t pretend to know what was going through Alfonso’s mind in that moment. 

The title, frankly, does not make sense. The marriage portrait, O’Farrell writes in the notes, is completely fictional, and it doesn’t even appear until well past the halfway mark. It had very little to do with the story as a whole, and instead tied the novel to Browning’s poem. This might just have been me, but I was reading this as historical fiction rather than a strictly intertextual work with “My Last Duchess.” 

I also thought that Lucrezia’s feelings towards Alfonso flip-flopped a bit more than was realistic. It made sense to me that she would be unsure if he truly loves her, but to have her thinking that he would never hurt her moments after she’s convinced that he is going to kill her just felt unnatural.

 

All in all, this was a book that I enjoyed reading, but I don’t think it’s one that I would highly recommend or reread. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Sexism, and Rape

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy

cstein's review

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

A gripping examination of a tragic social order.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Gaslighting, Grief, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, and Death

Moderate: Animal death, Infertility, Violence, Domestic abuse, Animal cruelty, Blood, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Sexual content

Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, Gore, Body shaming, Classism, and Miscarriage

meenakshisathish's review

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Confinement, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Vomit, Gaslighting, Infertility, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Death, Murder, Misogyny, and Torture

Literary fiction, historical fiction, gothic, feminist

jackbifrost's review against another edition

reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Infertility, Rape, Sexism, Murder, Emotional abuse, and Misogyny

Moderate: Abandonment, Medical content, Animal death, Violence, Infidelity, Grief, and Gaslighting

Minor: War and Death of parent

eeamiller's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Murder, Animal death, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Death, Child abuse, and Infertility

bellebeaumont95's review

dark tense slow-paced

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

0.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Sexism, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Murder