Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

10 reviews

lesbegays's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No

3.0

a very slow start, but it picked up a lot in the middle. the end kind of ground to a halt for me, though. the miniaturist adds an element of magical realism throughout the novel, and at the end gets pulled back down into realism while while also not being really explained. i wish that the book had either left that very open-ended and magical or given more detail, as the middle ground really doesn’t work for me. however, this was overall an interesting glimpse at a period in history i know literally nothing about. 
i never would have read this if not for it being a book club pick, but i don’t regret it. 
MAJOR content warning for societal homophobia of the sort you would expect from a puritan nation in the 1600s. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Homophobia, Infidelity, Death, Animal death, Outing, Pregnancy, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Racism, Violence, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexism

Minor: Confinement, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Slavery, and Colonisation

esjackson's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Confinement, Medical trauma, Homophobia, Medical content, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death, Outing, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Violence, and Misogyny

odds's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

My only previous encounter with Burton's books was reading The Confession which, although enjoyable enough, was more an "I saw a signed book on whim" kind of buy for me and wasn't the sort of book I usually seek out. Perhaps it wasn't the right one to start with. However, I had heard good things about The Miniaturist. My copy of this is pre-owned and a little shabby, but in a way that I think gives it character. I like it when books look well-read.

This is an incredibly well-crafted story about secrets, with a perfect historical setting to clash with the ideas of personal freedom and choice - in Amsterdam - "Where the pendulum swings from God to a guilder". People must live as they're supposed to - observed, like clockwork, all playing a well-oiled part in society. Absences are noted, money powers everything. Entirely deliberate then, I imagine, (small spoiler) that "The Miniaturist" whose presence seems to throw so many lives into turmoil was apprenticed to a clockmaker. It's about appearance warring with desire and reality, the lies and secrets that even the most pious seeming people tell and keep. Mostly a cast of women, it also involves a great deal of frustration at their various places and overall powerlessness in society. You form an opinion of each person, then have it altered by their actions before the end.

It has a sense of mystery which propels a reader through the story. I guessed a couple of the twists, but there are always more to come. You think you've worked something out, but it's a distraction. It's fantastic to read a story that features the figure of a "prophet", when the characters and reader both are often unable to see the warnings until events have already passed. 

In short, I thought it was exceptional!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Violence, and Death

Minor: Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Homophobia, and Racism

authorannafaundez's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Outing

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Violence, and Sexism

Minor: Police brutality, Animal cruelty, Blood, Pregnancy, and Torture

wrestleacademic's review against another edition

challenging emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Vomit, and Animal death

thequiltyreader's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Having finished this book I'm not sure how I feel about it. The book had a lot of hype around it, which I am always wary of as it often drives high expectations from me that books sometimes don't live up to. But I have found myself coming to the end of the book and finding it somewhat lacking. This is a shame as historical fiction isn't a first choice of mine but this started out enjoyable and I was left with a good feel for the setting without being overburdened. The characters were interesting and you got to know them well and I got vested in their journey through the book but I felt the emotional tie to them was somehow lacking? There were a number of good twists which I didn't see coming though which I did enjoy. But I felt the character of the miniturist was never really explored. There is lots of mystery around them but it felt like that thread if the story just wasn't finished off. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Sexual harassment, Violence, Bullying, Classism, Colonisation, Excrement, Gore, Homophobia, Medical content, Murder, Outing, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Slavery, Vomit, Abortion, Death, Death of parent, Child death, Confinement, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Grief, and Medical trauma

itsbumley's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad slow-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Racism, Rape, Stalking, Animal cruelty, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Colonisation, Death of parent, Excrement, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Abortion, Animal death, Grief, Outing, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, and Slavery

joygarcialim's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Homophobia

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Vomit

yellow_library's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Homophobia

gemmascott's review

challenging dark inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

For me, this was a book about hypocrisy and change. How people often project an image of themselves to the world that is very different to their inner selves, and how, despite their expectations, people can change and grow, often in ways they had never anticipated. It isn’t the best “historical” novel I’ve ever read (there were a few glaring anachronisms), but it was beautifully written and I thoroughly enjoyed the story. 

I loved the fact that this book was inspired by an object displayed in the Rijksmuseum and feel like the choice of setting was helpful in exploring some of the themes,  including race, gender and sexuality.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Racial slurs, and Sexism