Reviews - My Darling Dreadful Thing

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2.53k reviews for:

My Darling Dreadful Thing

Johanna van Veen

3.94 AVERAGE

readingintheruins's review against another edition

1.25

dark slow-paced

greyvibrancy's review

5.0

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

the_tell_tale_library's review

4.0

I thoroughly enjoyed this read. The atmospheric descriptions were exceptional. I felt completely immersed in every setting, as though I was right there with the characters. The way the book explored mental health was thoughtfully done and added great depth to the story. I was particularly moved by the relationship between Roos and Ruth, their companionship felt so genuine and poignant. Overall, a strong 4-star read!

henry_withbooks13's review

4.0

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

princessazulaa's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

capplesauce's review

2.75

slow-paced

maribn's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

"Must love be about suffering?"

A blend of gothic horror and sapphic romance. This was an easy read, a good book to start spooky season with. Above everything, this is a book about love.

‘My Darling Dreadful Things’ is written so interestingly. The main character is being mentally assessed by a doctor because she claims she sees a girl named Ruth, her spirit companion, and recently a murder occurred where she’s the prime suspect. The book has these chapters with parts of her sessions with the doctor (set in the present) and is majorly following the story of what happened (set in the past), told in first person. It was slow at times but I found the story fascinating.

The romance is tragic in a beautiful way. After finishing the book I could only think about the “what if’s”. Definitely keep in mind that the book is set in the 50s, so unfortunately there are some historical attitudes towards homosexuality as a mental illness but nothing that took over the book in any way!! It isn’t one of the main themes.

The story explores love and loss while being tragically beautiful and spine chilling. It’s a quick easy read with a straightforward writing and dark/sensitive topics.

➣ Quotes:

↳ "There's a reason the word 'haunting' is rarely used in a positive way. To never be free of someone, well, that's not always a comfort."

↳ "It's a dangerous thing, to try and give someone everything. One day, you might find you've given away things you should've kept. Some parts of us must remain inviolate if we are to survive as a person."

↳ "Arrogance is a greater threat to justice than evil and ineptitude."

↳ "Spirits like her are not drawn to the happy and carefree; they want salt, be it blood or be it tears."