Reviews

A Woman of Substance by Barbara Taylor Bradford

misnyder's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

deepat's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A truly inspiring read. It is quite difficult to put down this book for long. Even afterwards, thoughts of Emma kept intruding into my mind. I especially loved that she kept a “commonplace book”, which was a great help to her in achieving her ambitions. I cannot, in all honesty, say that I relate to her – she is far, far more ambitious and tenacious than I’ll never be. But it sure is a great story!

julz_clay's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

emjbrawl88's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

4.0

pianorunner421's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

emiliew's review against another edition

emotional inspiring slow-paced

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

3.5

aina21's review against another edition

4.0

I just wanted to be Emma so much

paristexas's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted reflective medium-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? Yes

4.0

misha_ali's review

2.0

Look, I'm sure this was interesting and revolutionary in the 1860s or whenever this sort of writing was last considered good/interesting but reading this in 2020, I am appalled at how shallow, trite and downright cringey this book was. I hate-read the whole thing and will probably rant about my (least) favorite parts later. For now, suffice it to say, unless you count aisle romance or Sidney Sheldon books as your personal favorites, do yourself a favor and give this one a wide berth.

katdibbits's review against another edition

1.0

Excessively long and pointlessly wordy

There might be a half decent plot buried somewhere in this book but sadly it's hidden beneath needless verbosity - it's like the author has swallowed a thesaurus. The editor is as much to blame as the writer - cutting all the pointless and repetitive description would make for a much better book.