suneaters's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Repairer of Reputations was probably the strongest story and likely my favorite. The ending is haunting as you slowly put the pieces together about our "mad" (but don't call him that, he doesn't like it) narrator Hildred Castaigne and his strange relationship with his cousin Louis and the odd Mr. Wilde. The setting becomes eerie as well with the titular reputation repairing and the suicide chambers as Chambers masterfully writes of a trembling man going inside one.
The Mask is also a spooky tale of Boris, Alec, and Genevieve with a
Spoiler
relatively happySpoiler
After Genevieve reads The King in Yellow and jumps into the pool containing the substance, Alec destroys it and his notes so that it could never be recreated before committing suicide. Yet, soon the fish and rabbit that turn into stone come back to life and it ends with Genevieve waking up.Spoiler
(for Alec at least)Spoiler
the titular King in Yellow whispering menacingly to our narrator. He has been pursued by a sinister church organist though for what purpose he does not know until the end when the man follows him home and goes after his soul. We can assume his soul has been taken by the organist who is a minion of the King in Yellow, which now forces the narrator to do his bidding.Spoiler
And now I heard his voice, rising, swelling, thundering through the flaring light, and as I fell, the radiance increasing, increasing, poured over me in waves of flame. Then I sank into the depths, and I heard the King in Yellow whispering to my soul: "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God!" (66).
Spoiler
abruptly as we assume the narrator dies like Tessie as we learn the watchman is a corpse that has been dead for months.The Demoiselle d'Ys is a time travel love story that is honestly quite tragic. It technically ends well for our narrator is he is not lost forever in the moors or trapped in the past, but his love is forever gone from him and him from her. The entire story grows more tense as we realize Jeanne and the others are all from the past and we begin to wonder if the protagonist Philip will be trapped at her home forever. Even as he escapes, it remains tragic as Jeanne is now deceased having "died in her youth for love of Philip, a stranger" (106).
The Prophets' Paradise is the last spooky/eerie type story that is less connected that the others. It functions as a series of prose poems that evoke unease as well as the madness of The King in Yellow with its repetition. It isn't as intriguing as the earlier tales and this was the last one that truly interested me deeply.
Perhaps I would have appreciated the last four tales if I wasn't searching for and expecting a horror tale with eerie elements. They're more bohemian and romantic. The Street of the Four Winds has a bit of a horror-ish vibe with Severn and his conversation with the cat. Rue Barrée has the more sardonic tone that is reminiscent of the first tale, but it was a bit of a chore to get through the various artists and romantic plots. The last few tales blurred together (probably not helped by similar plots, tones, settings, and even the same recurring characters).
Graphic: Ableism, Death, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Suicide, Racial slurs, and War
Minor: Racism, Antisemitism, and Grief
5donuts's review against another edition
3.0
Moderate: Suicide
jaedia's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Sexism, Suicide, Racial slurs, and Mental illness
bi_n_large's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Mental illness, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Cultural appropriation
podanotherjessi's review against another edition
Moderate: Suicide
moogle_exe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Minor: Death, War, and Suicide
For a Horror Book, minor topics are touched on.midnightcomets's review against another edition
Graphic: Gore and Ableism
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Death, Racial slurs, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Suicide
Minor: Grief
negotiumperambulans's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Mental illness, and Suicide