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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
Loved this book when I first read it - but I didn't enjoy it as much rereading it 20+ years later...
I first read this about 16 years ago and remembered it as a fairly erotic tale. When I reread it again recently, my opinion was very different. Yeah, there are some sex scenes, but the woman is always screaming, "Rape me! Rape me!" There's a very boring section comprising the middle of this gigantic tome, the compiled history of the family form the 1600s to the present day. Yawn. As the plot very slowly develops, it becomes clearer that this is a horror tale, full of incest and murder and evil spirits. But it's a very detached horror tale, and not a very interesting one.
dark
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
For about 60% of this book, I had no clue what the plot was. It was a lot of history and anecdotes. The overall story ended up being good though, and I am curious to see where the story ends
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Incest, Murder
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This took me forever to finish. It was dense, disturbing and dark and very much a product of its time.
I was much more interested in reading about the unhinged Mayfair history than about the wilted lettuce characters of Michael and Rowan and their insta romance. Unfortunately their sections were about 2/3 of the book. So I was forced to trudge through paragraphs upon paragraphs of their thoughts of how sexy they find the each other bleh.
The setting and the history were immaculate though and I was drawn into the story and even though there were tons of ancestors, each was carefully fleshed out and stood on their own.
I was much more interested in reading about the unhinged Mayfair history than about the wilted lettuce characters of Michael and Rowan and their insta romance. Unfortunately their sections were about 2/3 of the book. So I was forced to trudge through paragraphs upon paragraphs of their thoughts of how sexy they find the each other bleh.
The setting and the history were immaculate though and I was drawn into the story and even though there were tons of ancestors, each was carefully fleshed out and stood on their own.
Ha! Forgot I was almost done with this book XD Finished the last 50 or so pages.
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved the history of the family, and was so invested in the main characters. At the last minute, the main characters disappointed me.
Liked the buildup but I was unhappy with the ending.