Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin

6 reviews

stephanieanneauthor's review

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Believe it or not, I haven't seen the movie yet (but it is on my list). But movie or no movie, I had to give the book a try as I'm a fan of Levin's writing style. I will note that the sound quality of the audiobook is less than stellar, but other than that this book is phenomenal. 

As someone who's lived through it, I love stories that involve gaslighting as it adds to the tension and discomfort. And I wanted to scream at some of the obstacles Rosemary encountered. In those early chapters, I wasn't too sure how I would feel about her, but I came to love her character arc. I've also noticed recently that I tend to be more drawn to domestic horror stories. There's something delightfully unsettling about home life gone wrong, and situations that should be safe and comforting, but are not. 

Can't wait to watch the movie now!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Blood

Minor: Addiction, Homophobia, Miscarriage, and Abortion

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

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Content Warnings

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

bdingz's review

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!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Confinement, Blood, and Kidnapping

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

rumade's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Probably one of the first explorations of pregnancy as a horrifying experience and the alienation and pain that can come with it. Rosemary is a likeable character and easy to root for- a normal Midwestern girl almost estranged from her huge Catholic family back in Omaha as she lives with her WASP husband in New York and longs for a baby. I wish I could have read this without knowing the premise; so I could feel the tension build up more and more. Even if you roughly know the story, it's worth a read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Suicide

Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Minor: Addiction, Child death, Blood, Abortion, and Alcohol

There is a scene where a husband is very dismissive of him raping his wife the night before when she was passed out drunk

scarlettreadsbooks's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Pregnancy

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Blood, and Alcohol

megj23's review against another edition

dark 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Blood, and Pregnancy

Minor: Death