Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

11 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

danikajoan's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

Read this during my trip to Amsterdam and really enjoyed reading it within that setting (and gasped when I saw the cabinets at the Rijksmuseum that are so similar to the ones described in the book). I like this specific “young bride, mysterious husband (mean sister)” plot, reminds me of The Mercies and Phantom Thread and so many other stories I love. I felt like the writing here lacked a little bit of focus or direction but not enough to keep me from enjoying the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Animal death, Homophobia, Colonisation, Classism, Pregnancy, Violence, Racial slurs, Outing, Death, and Blood

nicolaparty's review against another edition

mysterious sad medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Death, Classism, Animal death, Homophobia, Medical trauma, and Racism

Moderate: Colonisation

Minor: Sexism

ok7a's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Racism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Misogyny, Violence, and Xenophobia

Minor: Pregnancy

kllyholt's review

mysterious slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, and Colonisation

felicityebhaslin's review

mysterious sad medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Homophobia

Moderate: Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Excrement, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Classism, Blood, Death, and Colonisation

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

sophieduncan's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Animal death, Blood, Death, Infidelity, Outing, Racial slurs, Racism, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Colonisation, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Grief, Misogyny, Police brutality, Sexism, Sexual content, and Slavery

balfies's review

emotional informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Another historical fiction, this one set in 1620's Amsterdam about the new wife of a merchant and the secrets of their house. 

Great historical detail and richness, characters with depth, well paced, ambiguous mystery, and enough tension throughout. Not necessarily a must read, but certainly an enjoyable one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Colonisation, Abortion, and Slavery

Minor: Child death