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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
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
latelygrace's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-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? No
2.0
I don’t know how I keep ending up with the weirdest books, but here we are again. What a whirlwind, and not in a good way. It has a promising concept, and took me by surprise by taking a swift left turn into an attempt at a modern gothic narrative. Then it became increasingly clear that it was written by an American who knows just enough about English aristocracy to totally misuse it and in her rush to include so many different elements and plot devices the author felt like she was alternately lost in her own story and then rushing ahead of herself. The “magic” builds up for 3/4 of the book, only to be resolved unsatisfactorily in the course of a few pages. The literary trend of dual storylines spanning history was clumsy and not fully developed. The characters of the past more literary device than developed characters though the reader is clearly supposed to feel some connection toward them. Not to mentioned the rushed romance squeezed into the last chapters. Threads that were tied off were done so too quickly and haphazardly and several others were left to dangle as the author completely shifted focus in the end. Anyway, not at all what I expected and tbh I don’t really know what to rate it so I’m going to go middle of the road again with 2.5 ⭐️ or maybe a straight 2 for making me read the last few chapters of “romantic” nonsense.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, War, and Classism