thealienamongus's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide, Death, Grief, Miscarriage, Medical content, Physical abuse, Misogyny, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Terminal illness, Homophobia, Child death, and Colonisation
Minor: Pregnancy and Death of parent
p_ttyb_tch's review against another edition
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
Not worth the time. 1) The half-baked "romance" between Julietta and Jane (arguably the crux of the story) is dubious at best. At worst? Downright predatory and exploitative. Julietta's experience, weighed against Jane's apparent innocence in regards to sexuality and sexual expression, creates an unbalanced dynamic that often becomes uncomfortable.
2) Valentine Ross' inexplicable derailment into a violent misogynist comes out of nowhere. One (!!!) refusal of marriage is enough to make the once mild-mannered doctor frequently fantasise about strangling, subjugating and otherwise harming Jane, It's disgusting.
3) The framing of Ralph Savage's relationship with his servant is also not good. There seems to be an implication that, because Leon holds some weird sexual power over Ralph, they are somehow equal under circumstances where that is just... not possible. Ick.
2) Valentine Ross' inexplicable derailment into a violent misogynist comes out of nowhere. One (!!!) refusal of marriage is enough to make the once mild-mannered doctor frequently fantasise about strangling, subjugating and otherwise harming Jane,
Spoiler
which culminates in an outburst that leaves her bed-ridden after a miscarriage leads to life-threatening hemorrhaging.3) The framing of Ralph Savage's relationship with his servant is also not good. There seems to be an implication that, because Leon holds some weird sexual power over Ralph, they are somehow equal under circumstances where that is just... not possible. Ick.
Graphic: Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, and Physical abuse
Minor: Child death, Racism, and Suicide
mrodrigues23's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
tense
- 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
4.75
Amazing book that includes a Sapphic relationship. The book also takes a glance into the perspective of the thoughts of an abuser and the rationalisation that occurred due to there being a patriarchal society that forces women to submit to men and a potential and very realist portrayal of what can happen when a man's ego and pride is wounded. I would also like to point out that due to the patriarchal society one of the females in the gay relationship appeared to have a warped view of what a woman loving woman relationship consisted of. I believe it was her way of at some points rationalising this and being able to be her bisexual self without endangering her beliefs. The societal expectation are also what drove the MC into the abusive 'relationship'.
Graphic: Physical abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, and Slavery
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Colonisation
Minor: Abortion and Death
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