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krmreads2024's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement and Misogyny
scarletkeiller's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.0
This is a really great read. Fowles not only writes a twisted male lead with a warped sense of love and relationships, but a complex and interesting female character who was shockingly realistic as well. Her actions, emotions and thoughts felt really honest and believable and I was so taken aback that a man wrote this character in the 60s! I loved this book! I loved the perspective shift halfway through, the hope it gave me that she find a way to escape, how it tricked me into feeling much the same as Miranda - blind hope that he might see the error of his ways and let her go. And then when the book reaches its natural end, despite knowing it was coming I was so full of sadness for her. What an amazingly written story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Sexual harassment
annie_brewer's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
While I do enjoy the premise of the novel, and given the time it was written it was still probably considered original, I didn't find much compelling in this novel and believe it could have been more punchy as a short story.
I found the writing quite basic but this interestingly made the novel very timeless.
Cleverly, Fowles intended for both characters to be insufferable, facilitating a lapse in the reader of their horror. While obviously no person should be held captive, the conditions in this scenario do not implore the reader to wholeheartedly hope for Miranda's escape nor her demise.
I appreciate the exploration into an unlikable victim, but this novel was as mediocre as her.
I found the writing quite basic but this interestingly made the novel very timeless.
Cleverly, Fowles intended for both characters to be insufferable, facilitating a lapse in the reader of their horror. While obviously no person should be held captive, the conditions in this scenario do not implore the reader to wholeheartedly hope for Miranda's escape nor her demise.
I appreciate the exploration into an unlikable victim, but this novel was as mediocre as her.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement and Kidnapping
Moderate: Death and Stalking
Minor: Vomit
milliebiggs's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- 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
4.0
I don’t know if I will ever properly be able to gather my thoughts on this book. It is about morality and it is incredibly dark and twisted. I have so many feelings as this book made me so sad and so angry and I don’t know if I loved it or hated it. I think it is well-written and structured but it is very morbid and quite different from anything I have read before. A 4-star rating feels the most right but I just don’t even know what to think at this point!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement and Kidnapping
shmayjoy's review
dark
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? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, and Stalking
Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Violence, Vomit, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism
mishkachane's review
dark
tense
medium-paced
- 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
3.5
I read this in high school and was so confused and disgusted. The book is well written.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Kidnapping, and Stalking
ellacostello's review
dark
sad
tense
slow-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
3.75
If I had read this book 20 odd years ago I may have found it more suspenseful and shocking despite this it was still an “enjoyable” read (as far as kidnap can be classed as enjoyable). I found the switching of POV was good in knowing how each were thinking and feeling and I enjoyed finding out more about the attempted escapes however overall I did find it a bit repetitive and was bored going through the second section. I found both characters unlikeable but I felt for Miranda and wished she had survived. Going through the book I get I understood more about the kidnappers psyche and how truly unstable and crazy he was which I enjoyed seeing into that side. Overall I did enjoy the book but it wouldn’t be one I would be interested in rereading
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Kidnapping, and Stalking
expatally's review
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Phew-glad I’m done with this one! He does a brilliant job at making the reader feel trapped in the little cellar room. I couldn’t put the book down if only to escape myself. Great writing-to see the plot and main character
Is distasteful is an understatement, but it don’t let that keep you away from the book.
Is distasteful is an understatement, but it don’t let that keep you away from the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse
silver_lining_in_a_book's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I am one in a row of specimens. It's when I try to flutter out of line that he hates me. I'm meant to be dead, pinned, always the same, always beautiful. He knows that part of my beauty is being alive, but it's the dead me he wants. He wants me living-but-dead.
This book took me by total surprise. If not for a friends recommendation and insistence on me giving this book a try, I don't think I ever would have. I am so glad I did; not because I enjoyed the reading experience or found the plot particularly entertaining, it was quite the opposite. It was the character building, exploration of class-structures in society and the portrayal of our obsession with all things superficial and beautiful that really stood out to me and made this book worth reading.
There is a lot of emphasis on a person's ability to create and to progress, our complex thoughts and actions being what makes us human and how the desire to hoard, capture and collect kills the beauty in whatever it is that you seek to preserve. I am certain that there is a lot in this book that I missed, but I certainly felt for the characters - Frederick disturbed me immensely and I absolutely loved Miranda and wanted her to be alright. Reading from her perspective made me feel more claustrophobic and near-panic than I have ever felt while reading a book. It is incredible to me that John Fowles was able to transfer her feelings and thoughts so vividly through pages, and as letter / diary entries no less.
It is very difficult to rate a book like this. As I have said before, it is not fun to read, but it is not meant to be; it is disturbing, triggering and ultimately very unsatisfying, but it is unique and incredibly successful in achieving what Fowles set out for it to accomplish. He deserves high praise, I doubt many writers would be able to create what he managed to here.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Abandonment
Moderate: Ableism, Chronic illness, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexism, Vomit, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Classism
Minor: Drug use, Eating disorder, Death of parent, and Alcohol
beetlepiano's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement and Kidnapping
Moderate: Violence