Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Last Heir to Blackwood Library by Hester Fox

20 reviews

amberinpieces's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Vomit, Dementia, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and War

decie's review against another edition

3.5

it's not bad. it's just the exact plot of Mexican Gothic but in England.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Gaslighting

Moderate: Dementia

rhi_'s review

dark tense slow-paced

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

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

chelbelle122's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

Olympic medal in mansplaining and gaslighting. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

beepbeep101's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

2.0

Intriguing enough to finish, but the more I think about it afterwards, the less it makes sense.

So, this was a very intriguing premise, but the way the unreliable narrator is executed just makes it confusing.

Once you get to the end, it finally makes sense that Ivy was losing her memories and didn’t remember things that are now revealed at the end as having happened. I figured out much earlier that she was losing her memories, of course, as that’s what she discovered was the method of the library, but there were far too few hints throughout that she had forgotten things. The repeated conversation with the maid was good, but otherwise we mostly just had Ralph being annoying by never answering her when she tried to ask what was going on. Instead he just maddeningly only said, “Oh, you know,” and then, seemingly inexplicably got mad at her when she didn’t, in fact, know. When he and the rest of the staff were finally willing to help Ivy and reveal more information at the end, it felt more like they were suddenly nice than that Ivy had suddenly regained memories.

I’m honestly not sure how this could be done better. Maybe multiple points of view? Maybe epistolary and her letters/entries contradict themselves? Something. Again, I liked the premise, but the bulk of the time it felt like vague writing rather than the protagonist questioning her reality.

No dragons, unless the library ate them and I forgot about them

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Blood, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Dementia, Death of parent, and War

Minor: War and Classism

beucleral's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and War

libraryghost's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Toxic relationship, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Gaslighting, and War

gracescanlon's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Gaslighting, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, and Alcohol

mrsasimmons11516's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book is not what you think, but kind of in the best possible way. It was unhinged in parts, it was sweet, haunting, creepy, devastating.... its a Rollercoaster but also a form of mystery I've never encountered before and it was a good time. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Dementia, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, War, and Classism

reallyrosalie's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Violence, Blood, and Murder