Reviews

A Sicilian Romance by Ann Radcliffe

codenamelou's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.0

dom_brlw's review against another edition

3.0

A Sicilian Romance is your 1790s thriller. It would have left readers up late at night at the time, made them cry and jump but nowadays, it isn't as entertaining. This book is better studied than read to be honest. The first book I encountered and felt was like that.

I was never so absorbed in the story that I forgot I was reading. I would count the number of pages left in the chapters and sigh when I saw it was more than 10. I always postponed the moment for reading it. When in literature class, however, I loved studying it. It was so much fun!

Also, I was rather proud when I uncovered the mystery (revealed in the last 20 pages) at the very beginning of the novel :)

Well, if you want to know, this book is filled with women fainting, a controlling parent, a manipulative stepmother, men seeking power or men being very chivalrous. It has many themes of the gothic like the use of setting, representation of gender, the supernatural, power and menace and more.

If you're interested in a 1790s read with a bit of action and lots of running away, go for it, you might like it! And if you'd like to study it, even better!

Happy reading <3

velociranga's review against another edition

3.0

An interesting read, and early example of Gothic Romance. Found it intriguing in how it displays many of the elements of the genre (crumbling buildings, references to a more brutal past, supernatural fears, etc) and enjoyed wondering where the tale of misadventure would go next.

But, ultimately, consistent conveniences and deus ex machina became a bit tiresome, and the writing didn't do enough to really win me over completely. A fine read, but not one that really stuck with me

eliothewitch's review against another edition

3.0

My god was this a long book. It was alright, honestly. I was very excited to start this one because I've heard that the Gothic is a very cool genre, but I honestly don't care for it anymore. I skipped over a lot of the long landscape descriptions, and the parts in which actual action was happening seemed to only be happening by accident. Like, every time Julia seems to be stuck or about to get caught it just so happens that Ferdinand or Hippolitus or Madame are there to rescue her. It got kind of annoying after a while.

I've definitely read worse books, but this is not something I'd recommend to a friend.

SPOILERS!!!!!!!!

The ending was surprising enough though. We'd discussed the book in class before I finished it, so I already knew about the marchioness being alive, but Maria and the marquis dying so violently was really unexpected. The only time during this book when I was truly on the edge of my seat was when I didn't know if the marchioness and Julia had eaten the poison. Though, I should've guess that once again a man would show up and save them.

river_dithers's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

I really enjoyed this book! It moved very quickly and so it kept me attached to it over the two days I read it! In parts, it was quite dark, but overall relied upon the main characters' virtue as a means of hope. All the good characters performed virtuous, and the 'bad' ones were proud, or lacked shame in the negative things that they had done to others.

imogenrobinson__'s review against another edition

1.0

Heavily reliant on tropes, circumstance, coincidence etc. I found the female characters pretty insufferable tbh - they're always trembling, cowering wrecks fainting and swooning all over the shop. Sure, the tyrannical patriarchal figure of the father is ultimately overcome, but Radcliffe could've developed these female characters a little bit more. I don't think it necessarily fits into the concept of the 'Female Gothic'. I guess it challenges coverture and the imprisoned mother is eventually freed, but idk I kind of feel like it reinforces a lot of the systems it (possibly) attempts to subvert.

taviamorgan's review against another edition

4.0

i had to read this for my 17th and 18th century lit class and while it felt like it took me 500 years to read this only 200 page book i still really enjoyed it. the class and gender discussions were really great and while i maybe didn’t need all the descriptions of the landscape i did really like everything that was talked about. a solid story and i liked the mystery and love story. a solid book so while not the best thing i’ve ever read it was a good book especially for the class.

xxbelleeeexx's review against another edition

Another book I had to read for a uni class and another one I’m not sure how to rate/how I feel about it. So I’m just going to leave it as is for the moment

readingoverbreathing's review against another edition

4.0

"You will always be the sister of my heart — may you never be the partner of my misfortunes!"

alexiacambaling's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0