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bone_empress's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Ableism
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Classism
Minor: Incest and Cultural appropriation
Ableism: there's an adult character that may have a developmental disability. People talk down to him and use disparaging words to describe him, and he is portrayed as being unintelligent. It's also heavily implied that he may have also been emotionally abused in the past and threatened with being institutionalized. The character is not present for most of the book. Bullying and emotional abuse: one character is intentionally hurtful to the narrator, playing upon the narrator's fears and insecurities. The narrator's husband stonewalls her sometimes and the narrator is impacted negatively. Cultural appropriation: Characters dress up in appropriated attire at an event. One is in brown face. Incest: a secondary character had a consensual relationship with a non-immediate family member in the past. Not described in detail. Suicide: a character is theorized to have successfully ended their life and the method is generally described but does not give violent details. Suicidal thoughts (very mild spoiler, no names):clairew97's review against another edition
- 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
2.0
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
magellen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Oh poor sweet HELLA adhd Mrs. DeWinter - it is so deeply amusing to read this book, with her being "embarrassed for them because they didn't have the sense to" and her intense rejection sensitivity disorder and all her wild conjectures and anxiety.
This is such a fantastic book in the gothic catalogue and a classic of twisty overlapping story. Its ableist and racist in places in line with shitty white moneyed people of the era.
Young wife, husband twice her age, giant estate and a malicious housekeeper. Lots of secrets. Lots of miscommunication haha
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Classism
Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Death, Infidelity, and Grief
Minor: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Racism, Suicide, and Murder
ambermarshall's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
It starts off slowly but so richly described that it drew me right in, and then in the second half it gripped me tightly and pulled me along. So much is revealed that casts earlier parts in a new light, and I found myself flipping back and forth and rereading earlier passages. The mystery and suspense were excellent, and romance took a back seat (it was all rather chaste as far as romance goes). It ends rather abruptly but I read a little more of the beginning again (which takes place after the events of the book) and it can act as a sort of epilogue as well as prologue, and you get a different reading from it after reading the entire novel.
I do wonder if the beginning might serve better at the end, since it takes away a little bit of the suspense to know that MC and Maxim are away and safe after everything, though I did wonder if maybe they were on the lam.
Overall, I'm hugely impressed. A masterpiece indeed.
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Bullying, Cancer, Death, Infidelity, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, and Cultural appropriation
mme_carton's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Islamophobia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
Moderate: Incest, Infidelity, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Infertility, and Death of parent
klfgasaway's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Ableism
Minor: Incest, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, and Cultural appropriation
bethsicle's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Ableism, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
will_sandy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Bullying, Death, and Grief
leah24601'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
5.0
Graphic: Gun violence, Infidelity, and Murder
Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, and Incest
bekkiboo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder