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amyrose16's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Murder
Moderate: Infertility and Rape
mattiedancer'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
3.0
- Fans of historical books that have a split POV with modern perspective
- Someone looking for a cool concept over everything else
- Fans of witchy history who are looking for an easy read
- Pregnancy, adultery, murder, sexism, misogyny, rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, violence, abuse, child abuse, child death, death, death of parent, self-harm, suicide, suicide attempt, suicidal thoughts, terminal illness, poison, gun violence, medical trauma, classism, injury, injury detail, fire, pedophilia, incest, infertility
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
jkohls's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Pregnancy
sallytiffany'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Moderate: Drug use, Gore, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Grief, and Murder
elisahec's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Child death, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, and Pregnancy
Minor: Death, Rape, Terminal illness, Vomit, Abortion, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
mbmayo's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.25
From the very start, she uses the example of giving up her application to Cambridge's history program as an example of her husband pointing her away from her dreams towards more "reliable" "safe" choices. As though there are no universities offering graduate history programs in Ohio. She also talks about boxing up her novels, because as we all know responsible adults don't read old Victorian books! We never hear anything good about James, no indication as to why she married him and stayed married for 10 years. I feel like this was a missed opportunity from the author to make me care about the relationship.
Also, as she works through the mystery, she keeps fantasizing that if she solves it maybe someone will give a job as a historian researcher. This line of thinking would make sense if she were the twelve year old in the story, but she's thirty something. At the end of the book, she applies to Cambridge in a night. Truly I should not have expected realism by this point in the book, but as someone who has applied to undergraduate and graduate level programs, it takes more than a few hours. But of course she gets in.
I also don't understand why she threw the glass vial away (I assume something about closing that chapter of her life.) or why Eliza ends up with twins at the end (women wanting babies is a present theme in this book, but I don't recall it being important to Eliza).
Graphic: Child death, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Infertility, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Vomit, and Pregnancy
Minor: Rape and Medical content
beastly_bat'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
5.0
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Abortion, Murder, and Pregnancy
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Sexual harassment
eleanor029's review against another edition
- 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? No
3.5
Furthermore, I am in two minds about the ending. I like how Caroline moves to the UK and pursues her passion, but I don't appreciate the open questions. Did Nella live? (Likely not, but still...). Did Caroline go back to the Apothecary Shop? Did she talk to the owners of the building and get permission to really look around there? What happened to it? (Okay that last one is hard to answer in a novel). Did she ever find out Nellas identity and where did she get further information from?
I loved how before, the research process was quite transparent, though exaggerated (who has so much luck, please) for the story.
Lastly, I hated that Caroline threw the vial back in the Thames. I get the sentimental aspect of putting Eliza's secret back, but omg noooo, why would you do that. You can keep a secret without throwing the objects that sparked your research into the depths of a river. Come on, Caroline.
Moderate: Miscarriage and Vomit
Minor: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Murder
elenaakers's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.25
Moderate: Misogyny, Suicide, and Murder
Minor: Miscarriage and Rape
spootilious'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? It's complicated
2.0
Graphic: Grief and Murder
Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Abortion, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting
Minor: Rape