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6emptynotebooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Child abuse, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, and Pregnancy
talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Chronic illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Classism, and Child abuse
Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, Ableism, Death, Child death, Lesbophobia, Sexual content, Blood, and Homophobia
Minor: Vomit, Infertility, Animal death, Pregnancy, Incest, and Alcohol
Betrothal between cousins, but no actual relationship.lord_morpheus's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug use, Medical trauma, Drug abuse, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Sexism, Confinement, Medical content, Death of parent, and Homophobia
Minor: Outing, Sexual content, Ableism, Vomit, and Body shaming
burnourhistory's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Sexism, Addiction, and Drug use
Minor: Homophobia, Death, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, and Pregnancy
hmatt's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
For whatever reason, though, I wasn't quite as compelled by this novel as I was by <I>The Other Bennet Sister</I>, which is the last one of these takes I read. This one is a bit lighter on plot, maybe, and it feels a bit too long. Part 4, in my opinion, was completely unnecessary and can be omitted from your reading.
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Classism, Child abuse, Confinement, Drug abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Drug use, Gaslighting, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Pregnancy, Grief, Medical content, Death of parent, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Outing and Rape
Minor "rape" tag refers to one instance in Part 3 where a character describes engaging in sex with their partner in a period-typical way that would be considered non-consensual now.barleymowetc's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Sexism, Addiction, and Child abuse
Minor: Death and Death of parent
decker's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Sexism, Pregnancy, and Addiction
Minor: Homophobia and Infertility
papercraftalex's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Chronic illness, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, and Sexual content
Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Grief, Infertility, Misogyny, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Homophobia
carly_marze's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.0
Moderate: Drug use, Addiction, Child abuse, Sexual content, and Sexism
adoras's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The Heiress follows Anne de Bourgh, who briefly appeared in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice as the sickly and quiet woman Mr. Darcy was meant to marry. Although reading (or simply watching an adaptation of) Pride and Prejudice does add to this story, it's not necessary. I haven't read any other novels set in the Pride and Prejudice world but from another perspective, but I appreciated that this one didn't try to mimic the style or tone of the original. Like the original, it is both full of societal commentary and romance, but that's more or less where the similarities end.
Anne was prescribed laudanum as a baby, and continued to rely on the drug for decades. I found the beginning of the novel to be slow, and it took me around 15-20% to fully get into the book, despite the beautiful writing style, partially because it seemed to mimic Anne's laudanum-induced slowness of thought, and the lack of stimulation in her life. Later, the pacing becomes much more brisk, as Anne comes alive and takes charge of her life.
This book does feature a f/f romance. I won't get into details for fear of spoiling major plot elements, but I really enjoyed the major feminist themes, as well as the explorations of sexuality and class. Anne and other supporting characters grappled with the dangers of motherhood (vs. the more distant fatherhood), the need to marry if you don't have an estate/an inheritance of your own, and even the fact that men who are found to be in a relationship with other men are treated much more harshly by the law than women. Although the focus remains on Anne and her personal journey, there are many details and people she encounters that make the world she inhabits seem rich and full of complicated people all trying to navigate it.
Graphic: Addiction, Sexism, Drug use, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Child death, Blood, and Homophobia