Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - The Miniaturist

This was a very fascinating story, with an intriguing plot and characters that, though not likable, were mostly well defined and developed. It kept me hooked, curious on who the miniaturist is.
It did leave me with lots of questions and a feeling that some of the things I read were lies - though I suppose this was intentional.

I do not understand why Cornelia and Marin said Frans was the father of the baby - surely they knew the truth would be visible the moment the baby would be born? Was the romance with Frans all a lie?
Some plot points and minor characters were underdeveloped - I wish Jack's motives were discussed more.

But even with a few holes here and there, I thlroughly enjoyed this slightly dark story where there's no happiness or redemption found at the end, but that still speaks of hope and...life going on in the face of dark events.

Content Warnings

daja123's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

josiee's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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linnylou21's review against another edition

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mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.0

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figsofpeach's review against another edition

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mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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lesbegays's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No

3.0

a very slow start, but it picked up a lot in the middle. the end kind of ground to a halt for me, though. the miniaturist adds an element of magical realism throughout the novel, and at the end gets pulled back down into realism while while also not being really explained. i wish that the book had either left that very open-ended and magical or given more detail, as the middle ground really doesn’t work for me. however, this was overall an interesting glimpse at a period in history i know literally nothing about.
i never would have read this if not for it being a book club pick, but i don’t regret it.
MAJOR content warning for societal homophobia of the sort you would expect from a puritan nation in the 1600s.

Content Warnings

robynlousia's review against another edition

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mysterious relaxing sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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nickymikwoo's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious 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

3.5

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