Reviews with content warning for Child death - The Turn of the Screw

Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

35 reviews

chaisquarelatte's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

I was inspired to read this book after watching The Haunting of Bly Manor. It is inspired by several of Henry James’ works- but clearly this book is the key inspiration.

I can’t quite put my finger on why I got through this book so quickly, maybe because I wanted to see what the parallels were between this book and the tv show.

However, the governess irritated me. She seemed to glean an awful lot of information from small encounters. It would have been so much more satisfying if she took longer to pull the pieces together. But I do feel her need to be right was the undoing in the end as it led to the tragic ending.

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hjb_128's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.75

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thatchickengirl23's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

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liesthemoontells's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.75

I can see why this novella has stood the test of time in terms of its atmospheric dread, the creepiness of it's supernatural themes, and the compelling narrative of innocent children being lured by evil, not to mention

the brilliance of the unreliable narration. I, for one, am completely on Team The Governess is Clearly Going Insane.

That being said, the prose in this novel is SO dense. The run on sentences are so exhausting that just trying to keep up with the plot is a challenge at times, which really takes away from the atmospheric horror of it all.

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xkrille's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.0

I read this for university. I cannot deny that it is good. Definitely. But I do not think I understood it fully. I had to read some analyses and interpretations before I got it. As I said, I did enjoy it. I wish I had understood it while I read it because I definitely would have found it more spooky. All in all, it is my own fault that I did not enjoy it as much. The language was difficult for me, sorry!!! Maybe I did not concentrate hard enough. Whatever, it was a nice story.

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elliebasta's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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

3.0

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ccroquetas's review against another edition

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slow-paced

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

3.25

Para ser un libro tan corto, me ha costado terminarlo. Las oraciones y los párrafos eran demasiado largos, lo que me complicaba la lectura.
Dejando eso de lado, la historia está bien. Me resultaba muy confusa, pero es parte del encanto.

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