oxfordcommas91 's review for:

The Briar Club by Kate Quinn

4.5

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I always love Kate Quinn’s books, but I think her work really evolved with this one. The multiple POV (and including the house as a character?? Brilliant!) was engaging and I really enjoyed how she took us back in time to “the beginning” and showed us how things evolved from different perspectives. The murder mystery element stepped up the game and I felt engaged and intrigued by all the different characters and how Quinn worked to develop their unique voices and stories. It kept me on my toes until the very end and I thought that Quinn did a beautiful job examining the lives of a very diverse set of women living during the “red scare” in the United States. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Lesbophobia, Outing, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Classism

Moderate: Eating disorder, Infertility, War

Minor: Body shaming