A review by tonatyuh
Pamela by Samuel Richardson

2.0

i'm sorry :(

you know, i really enjoyed the first half of this novel. it was engaging, and if read in a horror-novel type of way just very unsettling and terrifying.

reading from the oxford university press edition, it includes two letters from book critics of the time/ the editor just praising pamela and the examples it will give the youth of the era. I think that's where i went wrong: i was maybe reading it with a mindset that was a tad too modern and easily despised Mr. B, and so when subsequent events unravel in the second half i was just left scratching my head.

and now that im writing it, to be honest, i don't even think that mindset is what caused me to rate this low. pamela's second half is written in way that resembles a conduct book of that time period; books where men wrote to girls and women on how to behave/act. also, it becomes repetitive as hell and just boring to be honest.

i give it two stars 'cause the first part really did get my attention and i even took a glimpse of the goodreads score and went "it's not that bad y'all" but then the second half happened and i was like "oh."

i would love to see a reimagining of this novel, tho. NOT a modern retelling, but similar story beats but the second half deviating heavily from what we actually do get.