Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Het bal der gekken by Victoria Mas

43 reviews

moonlightamelia's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.25

i feel like there could’ve been a little bit more depth explored but i’ll let the french have this slay

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Rape, Ableism, Child abuse, Abandonment, Confinement, Incest, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Medical trauma, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual violence, and Vomit

Minor: Alcohol

lauramparis's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Body horror, Classism, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Death, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Physical abuse, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Rape, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual violence

imkaytie's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Sexism, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Confinement, Drug abuse, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

thesehauntedshelves's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Confinement, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical trauma, Misogyny, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

g_monaghan's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

3.0

I would have rated this higher if the pacing was slightly better, it was a great start but despite the heavy subject matter I thought the author might have done more to highlight the deplorable actions of the physicians and common medical practice of the time

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Pedophilia, Self harm, Ableism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Confinement, and Medical trauma

Minor: Body horror

whatvictoriaread's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Self harm

hilarylouise's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, and Medical content

nika_97's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Misogyny, Ableism, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, and Mental illness

Moderate: Child abuse, Violence, Rape, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Animal cruelty and Death of parent

anxiouspurpleelephant's review against another edition

i really liked the sound of this book, but there were quite graphic descriptions of sexual abuse, which really put me off it. i think i might go back to this book at some point as i would like to read it tho.  
i also found the way women were forced into the asylum not so easy to read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Confinement

house_of_hannah's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

I'm really not sure how to rate this. I honestly think my favorite part was looking up the history of the real Salpêtrière and Professor Charcot. I actually lived just a few minutes walk from the Salpêtrière for several years without realizing it. The history is what fascinates me, but the book itself leaves a bit to be desired.

This story is told in a very matter-of-fact way. There's nothing that's hidden or mysterious about the characters or the setting. Everything is laid out for the reader, and I think it causes the book to lose some heart.

This is a slow, character driven story that is quite light on actual plot. It takes place over the span of two and a half weeks, but it feels so much longer than that due to the pacing. Unfortunately, this story suffers from extremely convenient scenarios to push the plot forward, which makes everything very predictable. 

As the title is The Mad Women's Ball, I expected a lot more of the story to take place during the ball, or to have it be way more relevant than it actually was. In the end it just felt like another plot device with no life to it. 

This book is depressing; there's no way around that. I mainly felt stressed while reading this. I'm not happy with the conclusion, and it left me feeling a little lost ? There is an epilogue, but I honestly could have used one more chapter of the main story to prevent it from feeling so abrupt. This is not a long book, so the ending does feel rushed compared to how the rest of the story unfolded. 

Basically I have quite mixed feelings about this book. On one hand it introduced me to a history of Paris I did not previously know, but on the other I think the book itself could have been fleshed out so much more. In the end I think that leaves me with an average book where the history behind it is more intriguing than the fiction. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Sexual assault, Rape, Mental illness, and Classism

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Self harm

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis