Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

17 reviews

rieviolet's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

The Woman in White is my first novel by Wilkie Collins and I found it a very gripping read, it took me less than two weeks to finish this brick of a book. It's quite an intriguing mystery and I think that it stikes a good enough balance between melodrama and moderate plausibility. I enjoyed the big cast of characters but I agree with some other reviews saying that Laura paled compared to her sister Marian in terms of personality and depth (even if poor Marian was depicted in a very unfavourable way).

I have to admit that the chapters set at Blackwater Park were a bit difficult to go through, given all the misery and abuse directed at the female characters, it made for a very bleak reading experience. However, the story was wrapped up neatly and in a satisfying way.

I wasn't expecting the vicious fatphobia that permeates the entire novel so I was quite taken aback and it really dampened my overall enjoyment.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Fatphobia, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Ableism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Murder

nekoshka's review against another edition

mysterious tense slow-paced

• 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Sexism

Moderate: Death, Fatphobia, Xenophobia, and Fire/Fire injury

exlibrissum's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Mental illness, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Fatphobia, Xenophobia, and Death of parent

ggcd1981's review against another edition

challenging mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

The woman in white não foi exatamente o que esperava, mas ainda assim gostei de ter lido. Primeiramente o formato dele foi diferente de mistérios como de Arthur Conan Doyle ou Agatha Christie de forma inesperada para mim. O livro é composto de testemunhos escritos e entradas em diários utilizados como evidência em um caso judicial contra os vilões do livro, Sir Percival Glyde e, a mente por trás do crime, o italiano Conde Fosco. O livro foi um mistério bem construído, nesse caso a pergunta não era “quem matou?” mas sim qual o mistério de Sir Percival e porque ele internou a personagem Anne Catherick  em um asilo para doentes mentais. Também qual o mistério que Conde Fosco temia? O livro teve bastante originalidade para época, apesar de achar que foi um pouco longo demais. Esse tamanho com certeza fez com que o livro se arrastasse em algumas partes. Especialmente porque por muito desse livro enorme tudo dava certo para os antagonistas e tudo dava errado para os protagonistas, o que me fez sentir como se eu simplesmente estivesse lendo a história de como esses vilões triunfariam e os protagonistas seriam injustiçados. Isso me deixou desconfortável com a narrativa durante um tempo porque não queria ler esse tipo de história.

Porém, felizmente, próximo ao final o livro teve uma virada e os mistérios começaram a ser revelados e os planos dos vilões foram frustrados, mesmo que não inteiramente, já que eles conseguiram roubar a fortuna de Lady Laura. Mas Laura teve sua identidade, que havia sido roubada, restaurada e casou com seu verdadeiro amor Walter Hartright. A forma como Walter venceu Conde Fosco foi um pouco conveniente demais, mas depois de um livro tão longo estava disposta a aceitar isso. A obra teve sucesso em criar alguns antagonistas realmente odiosos como o tio de Laura Frederick Fairlie, ele era hipocondríaco e egocêntrico e, mesmo não intencionalmente causando o mau, seu egocentrismo e falta de consideração por outros o tornaram odioso. Conde Fosco foi um excelente e odioso vilão, com certeza um dos personagens mais inteligentes e ardilosos que li até hoje. Um terceiro personagem que quero destacar esse, porém não é odiosa, é Marian Halcombe, a meia irmã de Laura e, junto com Walter, sua principal defensora. Marian é personagem que me dá sentimentos conflitantes, por um lado ela é extremamente inteligente, prática, determinada e coloca o bem-estar de sua irmã acima de qualquer coisa. Elementos que a tornariam um excelente personagem feminino especialmente por ter sido escrita por um autor homem em 1859. Mas por outro lado Marian tem muita misoginia e sexismo internalizados e em várias ocasiões diminui e difama a si mesma na condição de mulher e a mulheres em geral. Isso torna difícil para mim enquanto mulher me apegar a Marian inteiramente, pois ela não vê que ela mesma é uma prova viva contra tudo que ela acredita a respeito das mulheres como um todo. Apesar de por muito tempo a situação parecer sem esperança o livro teve um final feliz, demasiadamente conveniente, mas feliz.

Foi um mistério original para época e vejo porque é um clássico. Meu desfrute da história teve altos e baixos, mas no geral acredito que a experiência foi positiva. Pela história ter sido diferente do que esperava, com diferentes mistérios a serem revelados, com um vilão inteligente e ardiloso até mesmo para os padrões modernos e por ter feito tudo isso já em 1859 dou 4 estrelas.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

Moderate: Body shaming and Gaslighting

Minor: Death of parent

annaonthepage's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Fatphobia, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting

Minor: Animal cruelty and Death

orndal's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This book is INCREDIBLY slow. Also count fosco is FAT FAT FATTIE. HIS FAT FACE FATTILY EATS CROISSANTS.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Classism

phantomgecko's review against another edition

challenging mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

A domestic thriller garnished with Victorian misogyny. My compliments to the multi perspective storytelling through letters and diary entries, etc.

These poor women really were in a hell of societal convention. Not allowed to do anything without a disinterested uncle's consent. Not allowed to talk to each other plainly. Forced to walk on eggshells and hypervigilant to even the merest shadow of an insult. If only they could call everyone's BS and just LEAVE.

Like, at first I thought Marian was being paranoid. But no, Count Fosco and his wife really were sneaky little snakes. (Tho, the stubborn disgust at Fosco's praise was odd to me. Like, kinda a black and white moral superiority complex thing. As if because Fosco did some sketchy stuff, his very gaze could poison her or something.) (Oh, also, Fosco's condemnation of English society and crime was kinda weird. Was the author speaking through him as a form of social critique, or was the author trying to frame that line of thinking as obviously wrong because a villain was voicing it?)

In other news, the mystery threaded throughout, Percival Glyde's big secret, was v interesting.

Funny to me that this novel came out right after A Tale of Two Cities and both of them contain "twin" characters.

Anyway, I liked it. Not a top favorite, but worth the read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism

reading_historical_romance's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

ok7a's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Fatphobia

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and Abandonment

linguisticali's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

4.5

It's no The Moonstone, but this was still great. Not as funny and it took a while to get going, but some great twists and mysteries. I adore Marion (although Wilkie Collins seems to think all competent women spend their time lamenting not being as brave or intelligent or good at drawing as men, which... ok bro). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fatphobia, and Misogyny

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Death of parent