Reviews

The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall

jenrkeeling's review against another edition

dark emotional sad

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

5.0

Heartbreaking and beautiful, stunningly written. A masterpiece. 

tasha_sarah's review

challenging dark emotional 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

3.25

Incredibly written but it fights against itself, pride vs homophobia
I imagine it was a stepping stone, but I should've known by the title it would take us back in time to a harshness
The plot is slow for about 4 'books' and then everything happens all at once, but I felt the same about Jane Eyre and still recognise it as a work of art
My overall review for my future self would be - I dont need to revisit this book just because it was significant to the lgbt community in a different time long ago

schnatti's review against another edition

sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

2.75

lesbianlis's review

slow-paced

1.75

Truly WTF is wrong with you people that liked this. Its incredibly boring, does race science, and appeals to respectability politics. 

For a while I was excusing the boringness as just a product of its time, however, there were so many passages that were unnecessary and felt like reading about paint drying. 

eurikahc's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

beth_7's review

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

catherinedsharp's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

DISCLAIMER -  I read this text as a set text for university meaning I did not pick this up for myself. It does not necessarily fit my usual reading selection so my review may be rather biased. 

I would never have found this book without university and I am so glad that I found it. Such a raw and beautiful text although deeply harrowing too.

Check the content warnings and remember that it is a book of its time but still, utterly stunning.

unknownlegend's review against another edition

I wanted to like this so bad, but it was boring me. I couldn’t make myself care about any of the characters (maybe it’s the curse of too many white lesbian period pieces across all forms of media). It was putting me into a reading slump, so I gave up. 

ari_dykery's review

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

tizianabooks's review

emotional medium-paced

5.0