Reviews

Maddalena and the Dark by Julia Fine

kilppes's review against another edition

3.0

tbh very overwritten and lacking depth and substance but an aesthetic experience i guess??? many times i thought the excess of metaphors kinda dulled out the good ones, because there were so many that all of them started to lose impact. it was my slowest reading this year, but i thought that the overall idea and universe had a lot of potential and aside from that i thought maddalenas struggle with falling in love with a straight girl was very relatable lol i guess thats why i didnt give 2 stars bc i really enjoyed her scheming

luckyonesoph's review against another edition

sigh. wanted to love this so bad because the premise is so enticing, but the purple prose was a lot to take in. 15% in and i was just bored. low stakes, basic characters. 

svandeneeden's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

2.5

lavenderluvsbooks's review against another edition

dark sad 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 don't like queer trauma tropes. Selfish and anger is the main character without the violin 

atsundarsingh's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

I liked this less than I had hoped. Atmospherically, it was a really immersive book. I felt like gothic Venice was a setting I would happily read more about and more books set in. The characters were interesting, but their development in the final third of the book felt a little rushed. The conclusion felt hasty compared to how detailed the first third of the book was. 

steinmetzdan's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

5.0

beaniesimulator's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

4.0

jon288's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-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

Rich and heady, and it ended very well with unrequited love and death and the tragedy that had to happen. I might bump the rating up later, it's staying with me. A great setting too

lexicona's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

hotaliens's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0