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sanjastajdohar's review against another edition
4.0
This is a great book when you take it as it is, a Gothic romance, a bit exaggerated and full of improbable coincidences. When you know what to expect and just enjoy the amusement of it, it is a great book of its genre.
zaebee's review against another edition
4.0
I am most certain that Philip Tempest ranks just below Heathcliff in the list of the most devilish and diabolical fictional characters to ever exist!
caitlin_89's review against another edition
3.0
100% contrived Victorian melodramatics! Despite understanding Little Women as being largely autobiographical, it never occurred to me that LMA actually wrote other stuff. This is a short novel from well before the publication of Little Women, and it is absolutely "sensational" in the way Jo March would have used the word. I wouldn't recommend it as literature (I mean, she couldn't get it published...) but it was short and amusing, especially with the imagined (but possibly true) context of Alcott as spunky Jo March writing it all wildly down and reenacting it for her sisters. Recommend if you're a die hard fan of ye olde Gothic Victorian thrills or if you love Jo March and enjoy some literature for ironic reasons.
kamckim's review against another edition
3.0
This was rather risqué for a woman to write during Alcott's lifetime. Even though it falls far below today's smut-o-meter set by SHADES OF GRAY, I admire Alcott for giving it a shot.
theviolettides's review against another edition
5.0
It's been a really long time since a book has driven me to tears, and this has done it. From the beginning with a love story that was never meant to be and later to one that simply couldn't be. I don't want to write a spoiled review, but this book was written gorgeously and Philip is a villain you will hate forever, which makes this book and the characters all the more amazing.
gaderianne's review against another edition
3.0
I imagine this was quite a suspenseful novel in 1866. The young Rosamond is taken by an older stranger, kidnapped from her unloving grandfather and "married" to the man - happily. But when she finds him married to another (and possibly killed her son) she attempts to run away and re-claim her life. However, Tempest is always on her heels - stalking her, mining her attempts to find happiness. With a priest as a her protector she tries again and again to escape. In the end Tempest's greed kills Rosamond and he, in turn, kills himself. While not full of details like today's murder-mysteries, the premise is still scary and bone-chilling. Quite sleeping with the enemy.
faithmotta04's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I found this book a bit too dramatic. There was no end to the suspense and I felt that after awhile, the book was tedious. There was so much action and not as much plot. The "shocking" moments in the story were predictable and I really only enjoyed the beginning and end of the story. The body of te story was a bit too dramatic and I didn't care for it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Murder
marie_gg's review against another edition
4.0
At the time I read this (way before I read The Glory Cloak),I had no idea that Alcott wrote this type of novel; apparently it was deemed too racy to publish during her life. Spunky heroine ends up with an abusive, sadistic older man, and she runs away from him. He's determined not to let her get away. Tragedy in the end, as many of these types of books are.
denakaye's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
gloomybookworm2002's review against another edition
5.0
"A Long Fatal Love Chase" by Louisa May Alcott is a haunting, Victorian-era thriller that spotlights the devastating potential of obsession, through the chilling story of a woman pursued by her relentless stalker. The protagonist, Rosamond Vivian, is entrapped in an ostensibly passionate but ultimately toxic relationship with Philip Tempest, a wealthy, possessive suitor who ensnares her in his web of deceit. The novel plays out like an extended cat-and-mouse game, with Tempest using his resources and determination to follow Rosamond across Europe, highlighting the unrelenting terror of stalking. Even as she valiantly attempts to escape his clutches, Rosamond's life becomes a drawn-out nightmare, which tragically culminates in her death at Tempest's hands. The chilling denouement underscores the grim reality of how, in certain instances, men kill women out of toxic obsession, positioning "A Long Fatal Love Chase" as a disturbing critique of such extreme patriarchal control.