Reviews - The Yellow Wall-Paper

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15k reviews for:

The Yellow Wall-Paper

Charlotte Perkins Gilman

4.05 AVERAGE

willpickles's review against another edition

4.25

dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

bbthebb's review against another edition

5.0

mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Perfect length for a story like this. First couple pages are very mundane, almost boring, and then BAM the weirdness starts. I wouldn't call it a plot twist but the ending did surprise me.

softi_e's review against another edition

3.0

dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: N/A

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

kalon88's review against another edition

4.0

tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

kaylaco_'s review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5)

The Yellow Wallpaper is short, unsettling, and honestly had me feeling a little unhinged while reading it 😵‍💫. I have such a soft spot for an unhinged woman in literature, and this story delivers. It’s haunting to realize that women actually went through situations like this in the past — being dismissed, isolated, and “treated” in ways that only made things worse.

The writing pulls you deep into the narrator’s mind, and watching her slow spiral is both fascinating and heartbreaking 💔. It’s a quick read (or listen) but lingers with you long after you finish. The wallpaper is creepy… but the real horror is knowing how real this was for so many women.

_mallrat_'s review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional sad fast-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 hadn’t read this in high school, but I feel this was something I only could’ve fully appreciated as an adult. It’s a historical look at the intersectionality of misogyny and ableism. The symbolism of the wallpaper was profound and the way that it was used to talk about the protagonist’s struggles was engaging. I found treatment of the woman by her husband to be particularly horrific, and the infantilized treatment paired with the room previously being a nursery was not lost on me. My only complaint is that the ending wasn’t very strong, but it was probably shocking at the time.

Content Warnings