Reviews tagging 'Classism'

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

5 reviews

inlibraryitrust's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Classism, Dementia, and Medical content

purplepenning's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

Epic family drama is not usually the sort of story I'm drawn to, but I do like a good sibling tale and I enjoy sampling the work of great writers who don't write in my preferred styles and genres. Tom Hanks narrating a sibling story by Ann Patchett seemed like the perfect opportunity. And it was! I read a few chapters throughout  — enough to know that Hanks's narration probably added a full star of enjoyment to my rating. It's not a fast read either way, but what felt too slow in my hands became a fascinating and skillful unfolding in his. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Alcohol, Chronic illness, Classism, Death of parent, Dementia, Medical content, Religious bigotry, and Sexism

Minor: Animal death

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Grief, Abandonment, Classism, Death of parent, Chronic illness, and Death

lizzieinmt's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

3.75

I couldn't predict where this book was going the entire time. Just when I thought I had it figured out it changed. I would emphatically say that Mauve was the entire reason I read it. From the frost chapter, and for the whole book she was the only character I liked in the least, but I feel like that's intentional from the author. On a large scale this book is about parentification, family dynamics and trauma. But on a small scale it's about how close siblings can be in a chaotic world. And for that I lived it. Even if the actual plot wasn't to my taste. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Blood and Chronic illness

Minor: Classism, Drug use, Physical abuse, Dementia, and Medical content

renepierre's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

“We had made a fetish out of our misfortune, fallen in love with it.”

An early contender for a favourite book of the year. The story follows Danny and Maeve, brother and sister growing up in the Dutch House, a place of grandeur that holds a history of its own. When their mother disappears and their father remarries a women named Andrea, everything changes. The siblings are shows an act of betrayal that they will hold onto and obsess over for the rest of their lives, which ultimately changes the trajectory of their lives. Patchett explores selfishness through all of her characters, but at the same time, adds a level of selflessness in them that constantly contradicts and levels them out as they try to navigate their lives and recover from their whole world being torn apart. 

The only reason this book isn’t a five star read for me is because of the amount of typos throughout this novel, I found it really distracting, especially in the important scenes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Terminal illness