A review by sarcastic_fish
Justine, or the Misfortunes of Virtue by John Phillips, Marquis de Sade

5.0

Look at that I actually finished it. Say what you want about Sade but he definitely has a sense of humour like she gets struck by lightening in the end is that not the funniest thing. Sade is all about testing boundaries and limits and then going far far beyond them, in a physical, emotional, political and philosophical sense. The acts of libertinism serve as example of the philosophical arguments Justine has time and time again with her captors. Sade doesn’t fear saying things explicitly (lol) that others won’t, pointing out how corrupted and exploitable the system is through the ways it should save Justine but really only delivered her into the hands of more abusers. This book is for sure not for everyone, but I do genuinely think he’s one of the most fascinating people of the 18th c to read... y’know, if you have the stomach for it.