Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Majesties by Tiffany Tsao

20 reviews

mitzee's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Not the type of story I would usually read but this was one of the selections from the Storygraph Reads The World challenge. It was slow and depressing but I also felt the urge to keep going as each mystery and story unfolded.

The narrators sister Estrella is really the main character here. I did get kind of confused at the end but will include that in the spoilers.

This part is mostly a summary for my own memory:

• Gwendolyn and Estrella are sisters in a rich Chinese family living in Indonesia where they are part of the elite upper class. They have money from business dealings and benefit from the corrupt government that allows them to stay in a higher class level from everyone else
• Throughout the book we see the two sisters grapple with growing up in this lifestyle and doing what’s expected of them: starting their own lucrative businesses or taking over the family’s. And also the expectation that they will get married (to others in their same class) and expand the family fortune.
• Everything is centered around money (which, as an American born Chinese person, seems like it’s a pretty consistent thing for all Chinese families to want regardless of what country you live in). The fact that Estrella ends up dating a rich guy (Leonard) from a more successful family, is something that Estrella and Dol’s parents (Estrella calls Gwendolyn “Dol”) think is great for the whole family. 
• Estrella basically gets guilted into this marriage by everyone around her and feels like she loves this guy despite him being a giant walking Red Flag. Things just get shittier for her after they get married. 
• Eventually her husband “finds god” and starts to threaten going public with all the corruption and both families strong arm Estrella into poisoning him. Once he’s dead Estrella sees how corrupt the family is and she ends up poisoning the whole family in the same way at their patriarch’s birthday bash. 
• Heres where I get confused In the end I THINK Estrella and Dol are actually the same person?! Dol seems to be the made up identity that Estrella has for herself and it seems to go WAY back into childhood. I did not care to go back and actually figure it out though because the whole book is depressing AF and I don’t need that right now. Give me fairies, elves and magic.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Domestic abuse

sarah984's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

Decent enough family drama slash murder mystery marred by a terrible eleventh hour plot twist. Feels like it wasted my time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicide, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Racism, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Vomit, Police brutality, Dementia, Death of parent, and Classism

Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Cancer, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Islamophobia, and Medical content

tahsintries's review

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Classism

Minor: Eating disorder

laura_crowther's review against another edition

mysterious 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? Yes

1.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse

amiegold's review

dark emotional reflective 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

In The Majesties, Tiffany Tsao opens with a bold and vivid scene portraying a mass poisoning of an entire wealthy Chinese-Indonesian family, over 300 people.  Gwendalyn, the sister of the poisoner and the only survivor, lies in a coma trying to understand why her sister and best friend, Estella, would have done such a thing.  What follows is not so much of a thriller as a peeling back of layer upon layer of family secrets, each more disturbing than the one before.  We travel back through Gwendalyn's memories and throughout the world searching for the answer to 'why did she do it?'.  Though the beginning and the end read like a psychological thriller, the middle reads more like a wealthy family drama, perfect for armchair travelers like myself.

I loved this book and I absolutely adore Tsaos writing style.  As with 'The Remains of the Day', it is quite slow paced and you begin to wonder how much you can really trust the main characters observations and opinions.  If you read it slowly, you can see the parallels between sisterhood and dual worlds, between the beautiful insects she preserves and the daughters themselves, constantly on display, yet trapped and held immobile.  Tsao expertly addresses issues such as racial stereotyping in different countries and gender inequality.  I am sure I will reread in the future!  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Racism and Sexism

sallysimply's review against another edition

2.5

What a weird book. That opening was enough to keep me going through the first 25% or so when I was somewhat confused and not at all engaged. Then it started picking up around 40% or so. But this was a lot to get through for not much payoff.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Murder

Moderate: Fatphobia, Infertility, and Infidelity

caitcosentino's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

The ending was extremely confusing. I don't like that the narrator wasn't real this whole time. Kind of ruins the rest of the story. 

I enjoyed the book up until that point. The slow reveal of how Estella & Leonard's marriage played out was interesting and kept my attention. 

I didn't love all of the insects involved. 

I don't regret reading it, but I probably wouldn't recommend it to others because of the ending. 

 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Murder

annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

2.5

re: the ending: ??? i mean, sure? it was a big twist that contradicted the entire narrative yet simultaneously (imo) amounted to nothing of significance; it just fell flat. the prose, oh boy. it's how i write when trying to sound smart in essays, unnecessarily florid. it had a promising concept, i was hooked just from the blurb, but it didn't live up and the entire time i wasn't all that interested.
cover design review: ★★★☆☆. intriguing at first glance, i like the yellow background and the texture and shadows of the paint strokes within the face, but other than that it's eh. this is not representative of the book i just read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer, Fatphobia, Infertility, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Abortion, Death of parent, and Cultural appropriation

re: animal cruelty and death: it's insects if that makes a difference

solspringsreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.25

UGH. Loved the beginning of this one, and I was hooked for pretty much the entirety of the book. Great premise, super comparable to We Have Always Lived in the Castle and Crazy Rich Asians, and the book really unfolds in a satisfying and interesting way.
And then we get to the big plot twist, and it just… completely lost me. It’s not that the plot twist was bad (and I even half-guessed it!) but it felt so unnecessary, like it cheapened so much of what made this book compelling and unique. Suddenly this book went from a well-crafted, layered metaphor about wealth, corruption, and family, to a schlocky thriller movie rated 64% on Rotten Tomatoes
I’ll read anything else this author puts out because I did really enjoy the majority of this book, but I’m beyond disappointed by the ending. (How can a plot twist both be predictable AND completely random? I wouldn’t have thought it possible until I read this book.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Islamophobia, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Dysphoria

Minor: Addiction and Misogyny

shred's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective medium-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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Car accident