Reviews with content warning for Death - The Door

This is one of those books that i can't just rate by stars. This was a deeply upsetting and disturbing read and i felt genuine pity for the characters but it also made me almost put it down the first time Emerenc beat the dog... A bizarre story that even though hurt my soul while i read it, i just couldn't put down. It caused me literal nightmares multiple times. It's a brilliant book but a very negative reading experience.

edit: i had to rate it a 5 star to put it among my favourites but it's not a 5 star honestly. but it's also so good i can't stop thinking about it

Content Warnings

joofthong's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

Content Warnings

luananki's review against another edition

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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

4.25

this was so good?? the writing was beautiful and i also appreciate characters that are so realistically unlikable you can’t do anything else but to love them

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dakotahreads's review against another edition

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challenging reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

jayisreading's review against another edition

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emotional reflective tense slow-paced

3.5

I think I'm going to have to check out Szabó's other writings, because this one had most elements that I like in a book that are character-driven, but it didn't quite grab my attention as much as I'd have liked. This was an interesting dive into a rather intense and complicated relationship between two women who came from very different backgrounds but crossed paths because one (Emerence) was hired to be the housekeeper of the other (the narrator). Emerence in particular was a memorable character with her sharp personality and mysterious background. I think what threw me off a little, though, was how she sometimes came off as an almost mythological figure, which didn't quite work for me. On another note, there was definitely significant symbolism attached to the door that led into Emerence's house that left a lot of food for thought.

Again, I'll have to check out Szabó's other works. This was an interesting step into modern Hungarian literature for me though.

Content Warnings

paulinda's review against another edition

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dark 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

4.0

Content Warnings

seulgireads's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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