Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Yellow Jessamine by Caitlin Starling

5 reviews

spadedigsbutts's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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

3.75

This was a short read but pretty decent! The story takes place in a city under siege by a new non-royal rebel government where our MC is is part of the old noble class barely keeping things together as the city starves. A mysterious and seemingly supernatural sickness strikes and our MC is at the heart of it for unknown reasons.  Will she get to the bottom of it?? Hell no, she's a self-serving mercantile recluse that just wants to keep as much as her power as possible while avoiding eye contact with the 15 elephants in the room! If you like slow-paced character studies with deeply flawed characters and lesbians, you will enjoy this book. If you like lingering dread, tension, eerie seemingly supernatural elements and apothecary aesthetic, you'll enjoy this book.  Overall, the only complaint would be the ending felt a little rushed and I wish we'd spent more time on some aspects of the end, but I think it's a matter of opinion if you find it suitable or not.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexism, and Vomit

Moderate: Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

applepieandeve's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction

aardwyrm's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• 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

4.0

All atmosphere, and it's good atmosphere, so it doesn't matter too much that the very little plot there is wouldn't hold together in a stiff breeze. The supernatural stuff is entirely mysterious until a giant info dump at the end, which is genre standard and kind of how Starling does it, in my experience, but it's perfectly respectable. Evelyn herself is a bit of a weak link, as she's presented as a conniving, ruthless strategist, but on page all we see her do is act in the most suspicious way possible and make the worst available decisions no matter how little sense they make. But the vibes are the star of the book. All the grim, oozing decadence is very effective.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

cait's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Blood, Grief, and Death of parent

bethsiekierawalker's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Drug use, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement and War