Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

156 reviews

hocuscrocus's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Rebecca has been on my list forever and I'm so glad I finally read it! The only detail I knew going into it was that it was about a marriage in which the husband's late wife's name was Rebecca. I now understand why this book is so often recommended as a quintessential gothic tale. What a RIDE. At times I felt bleak, others angry, and often I cringed at what the narrator went through. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Cancer and Infidelity

Minor: Pregnancy and Fire/Fire injury

thereadingcat15's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Suicide, and Murder

lizetteratura's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Rebecca the absolute CLASSIC you are 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, and Murder

Moderate: Cancer, Infidelity, and Suicide

Minor: Incest and Infertility

sarahlizzie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Cancer

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

babyjillysmom's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-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

5.0

This book sticks with you after read it.  You reflect on the revelations unfolded and question your own character.  I loved this book.  Written in 1920s the emotions still hold true in 2024.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Murder

cyberhavok's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Incest, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Murder

Moderate: Cancer, Gun violence, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Blood, Dementia, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Infertility and Fire/Fire injury

kingcrookback's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

I wouldn't necessarily say I enjoyed this so much as I found it interesting - in the sense that I think I'd have liked to have studied it in a literature class. There's a richness to du Maurier's writing that would lend itself to literary analysis. (I still might head over to JSTOR to see what's been written on.) If I'd read this in my early twenties or my teens, I think I would've wanted to interpret the story as a romance. As it is, I currently read the narrator as an impressionable young girl, eager to please, being manipulated by an older man who has power and influence.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, and Murder

Moderate: Cancer, Infidelity, Suicide, and Terminal illness

Minor: Incest and Infertility

ratnix's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

 

I absolutely loved the question posed throughout the book: "Has Rebecca won?"

Rebecca has won. In fact, she had already won before even her murder took place, even before the nameless heroine meets Max, even before the narrative begins.

Mrs. Danvers is a scion of Rebecca, she is there to continue her influence on Manderley and even she has lost to Rebecca, though she does not see it; her full allegiance to Rebecca has subjected her to a kind of monstrification fuelled by her hate for both the heroine and Max.

Rebecca not only haunts the narrative, she takes full control of it by creating and enhancing the heroine's insecurities, plaguing her with nightmares of Manderley even after the events of the book have taken place [as the first line of the book suggests] and of Rebecca herself, by unintentionally turning Mrs. Danvers into a loyal servant willing to drive the nameless heroine into committing suicide, by haunting Max's reality.

Rebecca's rage at Max's convenient escape from being imprisoned for his crime is seen in the fire of the mansion. You can almost hear her scream Manderley will go down just like I did, but I will always be there

So, yes. Rebecca has won.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death, Gun violence, Incest, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Body shaming and Cancer

meganrina's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Cancer, Infidelity, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Ableism, Incest, and Terminal illness

hannahsbookshelf's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

4.0

I didn't know what to expect as I purposely didn't read much about this book before reading and I think that was the right decision for me. It gave me "naïve girl marries rich older man who lives in a beautiful house with large grounds" vibes similar to Austen, etc, but there is more intrigue and mystery and revelations, that I absolutely ate up. 

Rebecca is an enigma even though she is all anyone at Manderley talks about, and we gather tidbits of information as we read along and the mystery surrounding her death is fully revealed by the conclusion of the novel. 

A clever decision from du Maurier was that the book is named after a deceased character, and yet our protagonist, the narrator of this tale, is never named. She is only ever referred to as Mrs de Winter or "my wife" etc, ironic as the deceased Mrs du Winter's name is so prevalently used, and her predecessors first name is never even revealed despite it being written from her perspective, prehaps to solidify the theme of feeling inadequate when she compares herself to Rebecca but is it all in her head...?

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity and Murder

Minor: Cancer