Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Affinity by Sarah Waters

10 reviews

lidia7's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

Really enjoyed it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Infidelity, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Drug use, Death of parent, and Grief

Minor: Violence, Excrement, Abortion, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Classism, Blood, Sexual harassment, Sexism, and Terminal illness

eleanor029's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I love Sarah Waters' writing but this book was so slow to build up. Had it been my first of hers, I'm not sure I would have finished it. 
Having finished it, I see the full picture and can appreciate the story, but while reading it, I was not as hooked as usually when reading Sarah Waters. 
This would be a good book club book to compare to 'Fingersmith', since I thought the vibes were similar in the end. 

I did find it quite unsatisfying though, that Selina never came to Margaret at all. I would have found the betrayal greater had she maybe come to Margaret in her room, kissed her, taken the things and then left her standing. But then again, the context of her escape would have been harder to explain...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement

Moderate: Drug use

Minor: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death of parent, Medical content, Mental illness, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

reading_for_pluto's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Confinement, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Grief

lostinthelibrary's review

dark emotional 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

4.0

It's official, I love Sarah Waters! The way she writes about love and desire just can't be matched and she had me really rooting for this

doomed romance

The atmosphere was also fantastic perfectly transitioning from the dark and grime of Milbank to the Prior's respectable but mundane home. What a feat!

However, this is not quite up there with Fingersmith for me. While the central characters are fascinating, the supporting characters such as the matrons and other prisoners start to blend together and the plot did drag a bit in the middle before reaching its thrilling conclusion.

Still a great book for me and a reminder that I need to continue with Sarah Water's back catalogue. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement

Moderate: Violence

horizonous's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Mental illness, Self harm, and Suicide

Minor: Cancer, Abortion, Blood, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Torture, Animal cruelty, Death, and Domestic abuse

◦ Drug abuse = Laudanum
◦ Mental illness = Anxiety, depression

kirstym25's review

dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Confinement

nialiversuch's review

dark 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Confinement, Drug use, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Abortion and Child death

Minor: Alcohol and Terminal illness

sarah_i_jackson's review

dark mysterious sad slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, and Drug abuse

Minor: Abortion

achillea's review

mysterious tense slow-paced

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

Ok this book isn't bad but very much not my cup of tea. Don't have the spoons to say more but I might have enjoyed it more if I read it when I was in a different headspace - wherever it is that I am right now, there was no room for this book and I feel like I wasted my time with it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Drug use, and Torture

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

ehmannky's review

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

4.5

I think this might be my favorite of Waters' book. The final twist at the end genuinely made me gasp, and it was such a gut punch. I don't know how to review this book without spoilers (though I will say that suicide is a heavy plot point, so stay clear if that's not something you're comfortable reading), but I really enjoyed it. It's by no means happy, at any point at all in whole book, but it's gloomy and kind of spooky and it's really hitting a 2020 mood right now. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Self harm

Moderate: Confinement and Mental illness

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Cancer, and Sexual assault