Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - The Awakening

I didn't exactly mind this book, though I didn't have a great time reading it. I think that the message is crucial, especially for its time period, but it suffers from being too dense and prolonging short scenes across multiple pages. I feel like there are a lot of unnecessary moments and events that happen - all of which never exactly serve Edna's character development. The prose is also incredibly bulky (again, this was written in 1899, so it's expected). It mostly lost me about halfway through.

I think that the ending moments of the novel sort of cemented it as more so a depressing tale of a woman living in the 19th century who is a victim of her time rather than hopeful. This is fine, as long as that sort of storyline is your thing. For me, it felt a bit odd and ill-fitting - leaving a pretty bad taste in my mouth.

I guess my biggest criticism is that I simply just found it boring, but maybe I'm being influenced by this being an assigned reading.

Content Warnings

livbowman's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional medium-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? It's complicated

4.25

Content Warnings

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional reflective 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

3.0

I appreciate this for what it represents in American Literature because it really was ahead of its time. There's a lot in here that moves feminist literature forward because a lot of the literature at the time didn't depict women in this way. Is the ending unfortunate? Yes, but it is expected, again because of the time it was written. But it will definitely make for interesting discussion at book club!

Content Warnings

More...