Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

73 reviews

ravenpuff's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Classism, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Bullying

Minor: Racism, Suicide, Cancer, Gun violence, and Infidelity

yvo_about_books's review against another edition

3.0

 Finished reading: September 29th 2023

"I suppose sooner or later in the life of everyone comes a moment of trial. We all of us have our particular devil who rides us and torments us, and we must give battle in the end."

WARNING: unpopular opinion ahead!!

I've been meaning to read Rebecca for years now, and after I saw one of my favorite books of 2023 The Hacienda being compared to this classic I decided to not wait any longer and finally pick it up. I had high hopes for this story, as I do love a good gothic thriller... But in the end I guess it wasn't ment to be. I know that the fact that I've been struggling with a reading slump might have been part of the problem, but I can't look past the fact that it took me eleven! days to finish reading a book that would usually only take me a day or two. I was warned of the slow start, and I definitely agree with that warning. I'm not sure if I would have continued reading if it hadn't known about the slow start, because the beginning is rather dull and tedious. Things do improve when the couple arrives at Manderley, and there are some clever twists and developments along the way. Sadly, I found the second Mrs. de Winter to be such a frustrating character to deal with though; having to spend so much time inside her head only made it more difficult to fight that slump and pick up my copy of Rebecca. The fact that she is basically a human doormat and lets everybody walk all over her became SO annoying, and she never fully redeemed herself for me. I did appreciate the descriptions of Manderley and the general gothic feel of the plot, but it wasn't enough to properly enjoy this story. I still might try a reread at some point to see just how big of a role the reading slump played when it comes to my reaction to this classic... 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Animal death, Violence, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Incest, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Mental illness

erynlasbelin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Ableism

Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Emotional abuse, Classism, and Alcoholism

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Infertility, Pregnancy, Cursing, Gun violence, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Sexual harassment, Medical content, Blood, Cancer, and Fire/Fire injury

aude's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Classism, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Ableism, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Incest, Cancer, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Animal cruelty, Suicide, Cultural appropriation, and Death of parent

iammmartina_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Gun violence, Terminal illness, and Infidelity

Minor: Suicide, Infertility, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cancer, and Suicidal thoughts

daniellarae's review against another edition

mysterious reflective relaxing slow-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? Yes

3.75

Beautifully written but not that much actually happens. The book focuses mainly on relationship dynamics and society of the time period which is interesting to interpret and dissect. Beatrice Lacy was the only enjoyable character for me, but Frank was a sweetheart.

I was a bit disappointed at the lack of ghostly presence and atmosphere that I was expecting. I thought it would be creepier. The twist was also quite predictable.

A classic nonetheless.

(My content warning tags may contain some minor spoilers)

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Incest, Terminal illness, Murder, Body shaming, Cultural appropriation, Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, and Suicide

bone_empress's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism

Moderate: Bullying, Classism, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Cultural appropriation and Incest

Ableism: there's an adult character that may have a developmental disability. People talk down to him and use disparaging words to describe him, and he is portrayed as being unintelligent. It's also heavily implied that he may have also been emotionally abused in the past and threatened with being institutionalized. The character is not present for most of the book. Bullying and emotional abuse: one character is intentionally hurtful to the narrator, playing upon the narrator's fears and insecurities. The narrator's husband stonewalls her sometimes and the narrator is impacted negatively. Cultural appropriation: Characters dress up in appropriated attire at an event. One is in brown face. Incest: a secondary character had a consensual relationship with a non-immediate family member in the past. Not described in detail. Suicide: a character is theorized to have successfully ended their life and the method is generally described but does not give violent details. Suicidal thoughts (very mild spoiler, no names):

a character tries to convince another character to jump out a window from which they would not survive the fall. No attempt is made.

atelopxobia's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Cancer, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Violence, Incest, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Ableism, and Gaslighting

rhi_reading's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

While this classic novel does have some elements that haven’t aged well, the overarching theme of the story has undoubtedly stood the test of time. 
Frequently undersold as a ‘gothic romance’, du Maurier’s ‘Rebecca’ is a masterclass in character work, suspense, and atmosphere. The titular character never appears or speaks a word throughout the novel but is so incredibly well written through the accounts of all the supporting characters that she stands out more than any of them. 

The contrast of the headstrong and fiery Rebecca with the diminutive and awkward nameless narrator is one of the highlights of the book and a sharp take on the classic Madonna-Whore complex. Du Maurier manipulates her readers until the very end in to sympathising and hating the characters she wants us to despite their actions and motives,  and asking us to consider what these feelings say about our own morality - after all, the truth doesn’t mean anything against a well crafted story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Murder, Death, Suicide, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Murder

Minor: Cultural appropriation and Racism

poirot's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death, Grief, Murder, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, and Suicide

Moderate: Alcohol and Alcoholism

Minor: Body shaming, Death of parent, Infertility, Terminal illness, and Cancer