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hazel11111's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Religious bigotry
Minor: Racism and Sexual content
thecozyrogue's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Outing, and Classism
Minor: Excrement and Vomit
shonalikesreading's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.0
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, Torture, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy
nrogers_1030's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Outing, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, Excrement, and Vomit
Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Racial slurs, Slavery, Torture, and Abortion
itsbumley's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Abortion, Death of parent, Outing, and Colonisation
lavenderbluestories's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.5
Graphic: Homophobia and Religious bigotry
Minor: Sexual content
sophieduncan's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Outing
Moderate: Alcoholism, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, and Colonisation
vanadiumbean's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Police brutality, and Medical content
Minor: Slavery, Torture, and Colonisation
katenovah's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Murder
sauvageloup's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
pros:
- the second half was quite gripping and grabs hold of you. The writing is good, straightforward but with turns of beauty, pacy and smooth.
- i liked Nella. She could easily have been annoying, but she's written so that her naivety is very forgivable and she's a good character, growing as the book goes on. The other characters were good too, and I wished we'd seen more of Otto.
- I liked how the plot all came together, it was satisfying to see the threads emerge.
- I appreciated that Johannes was shown to be a complex person, not just his sexuality.
- clearly a great deal of research had gone into the thing, which was impressive.
- I liked how Nella did grow as a character over the book and got up on her own two feet when needed.
cons:
- slow at the start.
- I didn't feel we got a in-depth look at the characters. Johannes was probably the most explored.
- the book did feel inevitable, which was a downer, though it wasn't handled badly.
- the book wasn't what I expected and felt unresolved in many ways. I expected more creepiness with the miniaturist and whilst it was less of a cliche than I expected (no strange noises or lights from the house in the night for example), the miniaturist felt underused. She disappears, unexplained, and whilst that was part of her character, Nella never even got to meet her. Was she supposed to represent fate or god? What did the little house achieve exactly? It didn't add much to the story, despite being the main focus of the blurb, title and cover.
- the story itself also felt somewhat incomplete. I suppose you can imagine what'll happen next but i was left thinking of all the misery Thea would face with the racism and it just felt really sad (I understand that's realistic, I just don't know whether it was meant to be a bittersweet end, because it was primarily just bitter).
- it was miserable that Johannes died. Very 'bury your gays'.
- Also, personally, I hate birth scenes and this one was particularly gory. Also the sex parts earlier felt like like they were meant to shock. I understand that we see from 18-year-old Nella's POV, but it did feel... excessively lurid at times.
overall, I'm not sure what to say really. The writing and plot was good, I enjoyed it and wanted to keep reading, but it wasn't quite my thing and I didn't love it.
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Blood, Excrement, Grief, and Death of parent