Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Majesties by Tiffany Tsao

11 reviews

tahsintries's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Racism

Minor: Eating disorder

amiegold's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

In The Majesties, Tiffany Tsao opens with a bold and vivid scene portraying a mass poisoning of an entire wealthy Chinese-Indonesian family, over 300 people.  Gwendalyn, the sister of the poisoner and the only survivor, lies in a coma trying to understand why her sister and best friend, Estella, would have done such a thing.  What follows is not so much of a thriller as a peeling back of layer upon layer of family secrets, each more disturbing than the one before.  We travel back through Gwendalyn's memories and throughout the world searching for the answer to 'why did she do it?'.  Though the beginning and the end read like a psychological thriller, the middle reads more like a wealthy family drama, perfect for armchair travelers like myself.

I loved this book and I absolutely adore Tsaos writing style.  As with 'The Remains of the Day', it is quite slow paced and you begin to wonder how much you can really trust the main characters observations and opinions.  If you read it slowly, you can see the parallels between sisterhood and dual worlds, between the beautiful insects she preserves and the daughters themselves, constantly on display, yet trapped and held immobile.  Tsao expertly addresses issues such as racial stereotyping in different countries and gender inequality.  I am sure I will reread in the future!  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Sexism and Racism

caitcosentino's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

The ending was extremely confusing. I don't like that the narrator wasn't real this whole time. Kind of ruins the rest of the story. 

I enjoyed the book up until that point. The slow reveal of how Estella & Leonard's marriage played out was interesting and kept my attention. 

I didn't love all of the insects involved. 

I don't regret reading it, but I probably wouldn't recommend it to others because of the ending. 

 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Murder

annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

2.5

re: the ending: ??? i mean, sure? it was a big twist that contradicted the entire narrative yet simultaneously (imo) amounted to nothing of significance; it just fell flat. the prose, oh boy. it's how i write when trying to sound smart in essays, unnecessarily florid. it had a promising concept, i was hooked just from the blurb, but it didn't live up and the entire time i wasn't all that interested.
cover design review: ★★★☆☆. intriguing at first glance, i like the yellow background and the texture and shadows of the paint strokes within the face, but other than that it's eh. this is not representative of the book i just read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Car accident, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Suicide attempt, Xenophobia, Addiction, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, and Racism

Minor: Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Infertility, Abortion, Blood, Cancer, Fatphobia, Sexual content, Dementia, Terminal illness, and Vomit

re: animal cruelty and death: it's insects if that makes a difference

lenaricharz's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Body shaming and Racism

Minor: Addiction, Cancer, and Eating disorder

yunsq's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Racism

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Alcoholism and Drug use

kikicochrane's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

There's no doubt that Tsao is a talented writer, and her use of descriptive words does transport you to the scenes that Gwendolyn is recounting as she lays comatose in a hospital bed.

As other reviewers have mentioned, this is a slow burn and the lack of enjoying the characters for their personalities does make it feel longer than the book actually is. I agree with the other reviewer that the publisher did a disservice for this being categorized as a thriller rather than a family mystery saga.

Overall I enjoyed this read, the story came together at the end and the reason why Estella murdered her entire family became clear. I especially liked how Tsao was able to weave the story behind Bagatelle throughout the story.

Content Warning: Themes of domestic abuse primarily psychological and emotional are strong themes in this novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Eating disorder, Infertility, Infidelity, and Sexual content

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, and Racism

alenezela99's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

This was a great read

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Dementia, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Racial slurs

pennym_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Physical abuse

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, and Drug abuse

annablume's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Death, Eating disorder, and Grief

Minor: Addiction