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kalypsowolf's review
dark
sad
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
I just didn't get the point of this one which was unfortunate cause I did highlight and tab quite a few moments of really enjoyable writing (the reason for a 1.5 and not a flat 1). I just think the overall vibe of the book is quite dull. There's nothing really to pull you along and entice you to read more of the story.
The chapters where you follow Clara after the events of the main story didn't really add anything, and, other than maybe the first one to just set up foreshadowing, could have been done with completely while still providing the same impact (and a shorter page count). And maybe the last one, because there was something important to Clara's development as a character in the ending chapter
Even in the main story Clara really feels like she's being pulled along. She has functionally no agency during the entire book, and when she finally does seek to make her own agency, it's pulled out from under her, thus entirely undermining any character development she had in the first place. The men around her are assholes and I mean, at least they made me feel something I guess, but I don't think the main takeaway of this book was supposed to be 'men bad'. One of them, surely, but not the main one. Also as the book goes on they became cartoonishly evil, which took away from the more low-key sinister sort of vibe the beginning had with Henry's letter and behavior.
You do really feel bad for Clara. Shes stuck in this shitty situation right after getting out of another shitty situation that was a result of a mental break caused by - you guessed it - ANOTHER shitty situation. Girl can't catch a break. It's infuriating and depressing. Which I'm all for in a book, but there's gotta be something compelling to go along with it and there just wasn't here for me.
The authors note in the back mentions this idea that Mary Ann Cotton - a very real convicted murderer who was thought to maybe be a serial killer - might not have been found guilty if brought to trial today. Honestly if that was the point of the book, it really didn't do a good job of being convincing at all. So while yes, she may have been found innocent if tried today, reasonable doubt is attempted in the book but not done very effectively. At least in my opinion.
All of the concepts touched upon here could have made for a genuinely amazing book, but almost every aspect of it fell flat for me and I am really sad about that cause I wanted to love it so badly. I just think it spent so much time trying to be ambiguous when it really needed to either commit to the likely innocent angle or the passing on murderous tendencies angle and it could've been significantly better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, and Child death
meowster's review
dark
mysterious
sad
- 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
Good but nothing more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Drug use, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Death, Mental illness, Rape, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Body shaming and Grief
johnlock's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-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
3.75
I really enjoyed this! It was really good, up until the end, which felt simultaneously rushed and like it could have been condensed. It wasn’t enough to put me off the book entirely, but it did sour my enjoyment slightly. Still, it is very enjoyable, and if it sounds like something you would enjoy I highly recommend it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Medical content, Infidelity, Infertility, Grief, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Murder, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent
Moderate: Colonisation
It’s about a woman who is forcibly assigned to an asylum by her manipulative husband after a graphic stillbirth, and is traumatized as a result. There’s also a semi-graphic rape scene about midway through.raechel's review
dark
mysterious
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? It's complicated
2.0
Maybe literature in a Victorian setting just isn't my thing. I didn't like this, I didn't like The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories: Volume Five, and I didn't like Fingersmith. I thought this book was way too heavy-handed with the misogyny, everyone in the book was an idiot, and there was also zero tension.
The book primarily takes place during Clara's return home from being away at an asylum after the stillbirth of her baby and she has a lot of trouble adjusting. All the men in her life are ridiculously evil (like rubbing their hands together and laughing about how they're going to send her away and take her family fortune), yet she still keeps trusting them and being shocked when she overhears them say awful stuff. Also, there are flash-forward chapters where we're basically told what's happened to certain characters... so we know everything turns out all right. And we know something specific that happens so there's a real start-and-stop feeling because every time Clara is totally for sure escaping... we know that isn't the case because the flash forwards tell us what actually happened.
Also it turns out Henry (her husband) is just... a mama's boy? And it's a WOMAN who was the true evil behind it all???
Clara is so dumb and naive but we're just supposed to believe she turns stone cold at the veryyyyy end of this book. What?
The book primarily takes place during Clara's return home from being away at an asylum after the stillbirth of her baby and she has a lot of trouble adjusting. All the men in her life are ridiculously evil (like rubbing their hands together and laughing about how they're going to send her away and take her family fortune), yet she still keeps trusting them and being shocked when she overhears them say awful stuff. Also, there are flash-forward chapters where we're basically told what's happened to certain characters... so we know everything turns out all right. And we know something specific that happens so there's a real start-and-stop feeling because every time Clara is totally for sure escaping... we know that isn't the case because the flash forwards tell us what actually happened.
Also it turns out Henry (her husband) is just... a mama's boy? And it's a WOMAN who was the true evil behind it all???
Clara is so dumb and naive but we're just supposed to believe she turns stone cold at the veryyyyy end of this book. What?
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault
willowy's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- 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? Yes
5.0
The Savage Instinct by M.M. DeLuca
Length: 377 Pages
Genres: Historical Fiction and Psychological Thriller
Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars
"I dreamt I stood at the door of a ruined barn, its roof split open to the moon. I saw a dark-haired woman standing in a pigsty, and as the pigs swarmed round her ankles, she stroked their bristled snouts and whispered, Thou shalt rest well soon, my husbands.
Then she saw me and seemed to float, through the muck and swill until I felt her behind me, whispering in my ear: I am in the city now. Come to me."
A special thanks to NetGalley and Inkshares for providing me with an ARC of this book!
I have a huge fascination with the past, and while I, like many others, am drawn to the glittering clothes, the balls, and the manners, I think more often than not the darker aspects are pushed aside. Glossed over, or gilded through the lens of time. As much as I enjoy the question "If you you could go back in time, when would you go?", I always add an addendum to my answer: Only for a day. Because as shocking and dangerous as it is to be a woman in my own day and age, I could only imagine what it was like for the women of the past.
The Savage Instinct by M.M. DeLuca never flinches away from the reality of life for a woman in the Victorian era. On one end, we follow our protagonist Clara Blackstone, a woman of wealth who is crushed by the miscarriage of her child, and promptly thrown into Bethlem for a episode that ends in violence. Ferried to another asylum, more fitting of a woman of the Upper Classes, she is eventually released, only to be pushed headfirst into her husband's scheming clutches. Soon, at the behest of a genteel society lady, she is visiting the Durham Prison where she makes the acquaintance of one of Britain's most reviled serial killers of all time: Mary Ann Cotton.
Poisoner of eight of her children, seven of her step-children, three of her husbands, her mother, a lover, and a friend. She is destitute, the opposite of Clara, but with shocking similarities in their life. Clara can't help but be drawn into Mary Ann's cunning web, and I was just as charmed by her, at times wondering if she was telling the truth about her innocence or spinning another lie.
This book left me breathless and outraged, and I could hardly put it down, despite my growling stomach when dinner rolled around! In the end, I wondered how much truth there is in history's version of Mary Ann Cotton - was she really a heartless killer? Or was she another victim, of men, of circumstance, and time, much like Clara is? The Savage Instinct is a deftly woven work of historical fiction, ran through with bits of truth, and all the questions and chills of a psychological thriller, that will surely leave you wanting more.
For more reviews visit my blog!
Length: 377 Pages
Genres: Historical Fiction and Psychological Thriller
Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars
"I dreamt I stood at the door of a ruined barn, its roof split open to the moon. I saw a dark-haired woman standing in a pigsty, and as the pigs swarmed round her ankles, she stroked their bristled snouts and whispered, Thou shalt rest well soon, my husbands.
Then she saw me and seemed to float, through the muck and swill until I felt her behind me, whispering in my ear: I am in the city now. Come to me."
A special thanks to NetGalley and Inkshares for providing me with an ARC of this book!
I have a huge fascination with the past, and while I, like many others, am drawn to the glittering clothes, the balls, and the manners, I think more often than not the darker aspects are pushed aside. Glossed over, or gilded through the lens of time. As much as I enjoy the question "If you you could go back in time, when would you go?", I always add an addendum to my answer: Only for a day. Because as shocking and dangerous as it is to be a woman in my own day and age, I could only imagine what it was like for the women of the past.
The Savage Instinct by M.M. DeLuca never flinches away from the reality of life for a woman in the Victorian era. On one end, we follow our protagonist Clara Blackstone, a woman of wealth who is crushed by the miscarriage of her child, and promptly thrown into Bethlem for a episode that ends in violence. Ferried to another asylum, more fitting of a woman of the Upper Classes, she is eventually released, only to be pushed headfirst into her husband's scheming clutches. Soon, at the behest of a genteel society lady, she is visiting the Durham Prison where she makes the acquaintance of one of Britain's most reviled serial killers of all time: Mary Ann Cotton.
Poisoner of eight of her children, seven of her step-children, three of her husbands, her mother, a lover, and a friend. She is destitute, the opposite of Clara, but with shocking similarities in their life. Clara can't help but be drawn into Mary Ann's cunning web, and I was just as charmed by her, at times wondering if she was telling the truth about her innocence or spinning another lie.
This book left me breathless and outraged, and I could hardly put it down, despite my growling stomach when dinner rolled around! In the end, I wondered how much truth there is in history's version of Mary Ann Cotton - was she really a heartless killer? Or was she another victim, of men, of circumstance, and time, much like Clara is? The Savage Instinct is a deftly woven work of historical fiction, ran through with bits of truth, and all the questions and chills of a psychological thriller, that will surely leave you wanting more.
For more reviews visit my blog!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Miscarriage, Violence, and Gore
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