Reviews

Beheld by TaraShea Nesbit

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thureris's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

cbeezers's review against another edition

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reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

3.5

sabregirl's review against another edition

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3.0

Was this book bad? Not really. What is good? Not really. I'm on the fence about this book. It's a bit muddled, jumping between narrators and places and situations. We don't really get a clear picture of a lot of things going on. It's the first murder of Plymouth, but that's not the main focus of the novel. The whole murder and trail is barely a chapter. It was a bit disappointing honestly. I picked up the book to maybe learn a few things or something in depth but that's not what I go. What I got was a Puritan wife who married her best friends husband after her "falling off the Mayflower", who only follows her husbands thoughts. Even the author said she wanted to hear the women's voice, in her afterword, and we didn't get that a lot. I dunno, I was hoping for better, what I got was a stream of consciousness rambling of four different narrators.

faithbowl's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

overbooked_va's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative medium-paced

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

3.25

Against the backdrop of colonial Plymouth, the interior lives of women from vastly different circumstances are rendered with great depth. Full of historical detail, Beheld explores the stifling roles of wives in the settlement through alternating viewpoints. During the story’s narrow window of time the settlers’ resentments and fears culminate in violence. The role of gender, class, and religion are all explored. Bleak but beautifully written, it’s a worthwhile historical read.