Reviews tagging 'Death'

Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin

32 reviews

tipp_njam's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.5

The characterisation is written into the story and the author does a good job of maintaining unease throughout the story even after the climax. 
I felt a lot of things throughout the book, like unhappiness etc but I was never mad about it, everything seemed to have a purpose.
Rosemary as a character was super annoying but her passiveness was something that made the novel feel more interesting because you get to see how easily she gives up on her resolve in favour of her idealistic desires of family/life/her future. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this read (despite everything) and it was quite horrifying. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Pregnancy

Minor: Death and Drug abuse

thatgirlinblack's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

“Before Ira Levin, horror always happened somewhere else. Regular ordinary people were forced to pack their luggage and kennel their dogs 

and had to leave their homes and schlep seemingly forever to Transylvania, to Manderlay, to the House of Usher, or Hill House, or the Bates Motel. … Yes, everyday life was all well and fine until Ira Levin brought the requisite haunted castle into the Upper West Side of Manhattan.” (From the book’s forward by Chuck Palahniuk.) 

The foreboding grows in this tale of a couple making a new home and family in a storied New York apartment. As an introverted millennial survivor of the Covid-19 quarantines of the 2020’s and onward, I’d suggest the first real horror is having over-“friendly” neighbors unexpectedly drop in and stay however long they fancy 😛 

But things quickly get very serious when Rosemary suffers a rape. Thereafter she is with child and the weirdness just ramps up to 11, with smelly flowers tucked into a necklace, yucky green smoothies, concerningly mysterious deaths, a book on witchcraft, and most annoyingly, Rosemary’s husband NOT being on her side. She feels crazy, as one would with her neighbors, doctor, and husband telling her she is. That’s the biggest nightmare—that she can’t trust her own husband. Men continue to be the biggest threat to women smh. 

Perhaps because it’s one of the earlier witchcraft/satanism horror books that have recently permeated the genre, the march to the inevitable simply plods onward to doom. The ending is picture-perfectly horrific: a mother amidst the fallout of her life in shambles. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Death

Rosemary’s husband

rapes her in her sleep

camischroeder's review against another edition

dark 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, and Death

mockingjayx16's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Body shaming, Racism, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Homophobia and Racial slurs

automatic_rae's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

An interesting concept, but not my cup of tea.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, and Suicide

b00murded's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infertility, Misogyny, Rape, Suicide, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Moderate: Death, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Confinement and Abortion

thegayestghost's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Homophobia and Racism

Minor: Vomit

vbarsi's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy

Moderate: Death, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

carlytenille's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

bdingz's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.75

I haven’t seen the film, but I know the basics of the story, so I wasn’t sure if I would get much out of the book. I was wrong! While some aspects of the story are dated (some casual racism and homophobia here and there), the relevant bits surprised me. 

The real horror story here is medical gaslighting!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Confinement, Blood, and Kidnapping

Minor: Ableism, Death, Homophobia, Racism, Vomit, and Religious bigotry