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dorynickel's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.0
Sometimes the characters seem not fully fleshed out, but then the two main characters' respective malleability and opaqueness are so intentional that I can't really take away points for this.
Above all, Waters' prose and storytelling are what makes this book stand out within the oft-derided "girly novel" genre. (Although it did take me a chapter or two to get used to the journal framing, with its varying syntaxes and mixed tenses.) I will admit that I didn't take this book seriously enough at first, and I was pleasantly surprised by the mastery with which Waters weaves the substance of the story and its candid prose together with the tropes inherent in its subject matter. Give yourself permission to take a sapphic Victorian Gothic mystery ghost novel seriously, and you're in for a real treat!
Graphic: Classism, Mental illness, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Sexual assault and Suicide
Minor: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Homophobia
grayshuff's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Suicide, Mental illness, Confinement, and Abandonment
eleanor029's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Having finished it, I see the full picture and can appreciate the story, but while reading it, I was not as hooked as usually when reading Sarah Waters.
This would be a good book club book to compare to 'Fingersmith', since I thought the vibes were similar in the end.
Graphic: Confinement
Moderate: Drug use
Minor: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death of parent, Medical content, Mental illness, Self harm, and Suicide attempt
horizonous's review against another edition
- 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
3.25
Graphic: Confinement
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Mental illness, Self harm, and Suicide
Minor: Cancer, Abortion, Blood, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Torture, Animal cruelty, Death, and Domestic abuse
◦ Drug abuse = Laudanum◦ Mental illness = Anxiety, depression
violentlyagitated's review
- 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
Vast stretches of not-much-happens dominate the plot. I was more interested in the prisoners' stories and their daily routine than in anything the actual plot was trying to achieve - feeling the emotions and taking in the atmosphere, I suppose? It didn't work, in any case... You never feel much of anything for anyone. The spirituality hook felt somewhat inaccessable and empty as well, very much like a device.
Minor: Mental illness and Suicide attempt
nialiversuch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Confinement, Drug use, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Abortion and Child death
Minor: Alcohol and Terminal illness
ehmannky's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Self harm
Moderate: Confinement and Mental illness
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Cancer, and Sexual assault
jonesmonster's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Addiction, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Mental illness, Self harm, and Sexism