Reviews

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

jess_mango's review against another edition

4.0

Okay, I've finished reading our "longest read of the year" book club book. Now, this baby can be born!

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One of my book clubs selected the classic Victorian novel "The Woman in White" as our January selection. "The Woman in White" is one of those classics someone (long forgotten who) recommended to me probably 15+ years ago, so I am glad that I finally got around to reading it. It definitely has the same "feel" as some of my favorite classics such as Rebecca, Jane Eyre, and Middlemarch and I can see why it is considered influential in the mystery and suspense genre. The book was filled with twists & turns and Victorian women whose lives were controlled/ruined at the hands of men.

fantasynovel's review against another edition

4.0

A fun, fast-paced read. The ride was more fun than the ending. Also, I know it's affected by the period it was written in, but I'm just so done with women being written as delicate flowers, except for the one manly woman who is an exception to the rule. Overall, I enjoyed it. The characters weren't complex, but their traits were fun and entertaining. I love annoying characters like Mr. Fairlie, they amuse me. Also, Victorian feels, guys. Gotta love those burning passions.

han2's review

Couldn’t get into the overly wordy style and pov narrator was hard to connect with 

noteworthy_fiction's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

kinbote4zembla's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-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? No

2.75

georgialilyw's review

adventurous 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

4.25

Loved this, great mystery and general world. Very verbose which forced me to slow down and try to just enjoy being absorbed, as this was written as a serial I liked how neatly everything was explained at the end to make it easier for people. Points lost for victorian ideas of women and whiteness.

klara1204's review

adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

alymiwasaa's review against another edition

5.0

OKAY had to wait a bit to review this but oh my god this has got to be my favourite classic i've ever read (note i have not read that many classics but we won't pay attention to that). is it probably about 200 pages too long? yes but idgaf this book was so engaging the entire way through, and so much easier to read than other victorian novels. despite the long length, none of the pages or events felt like filler, and though the ending was a little anticlimactic, i'll admit, i still loved the happy conclusion of the story, it was soooooo so cute.

now, as for the characters, i adored every single one of them (except mr fairlie fuck you bitch). marian was by far my favourite, despite her constant jabs at her own gender, she was so strong, reliable, and the glue that held the mystery, and the main three together. i am a sucker for strong female relationships, romantic or not, so seeing the way that laura and marian cared for and loved each other unconditionally was so heartwarming. laura, though a little less interesting than marian, was a great character to watch develop, as she began standing up to the men around her and advocating for her own needs. walter was a bit of a loser but a lovable one! his determination towards the end of the novel was commendable, though his slight lack of danger sense was rather funny.

now. i cannot talk about this book without talking about count fosco. oh my GOD. what an insane villain. sir percival sit the fuck down you are so irrelevant honestly. i think the thing i liked the most about fosco's introduction, was that it wasn't immediately obvious that he was evil, like sir percival. with him you could see it from a mile away, which was definitely intentional. the count was so sly the entire time i was so gagged when his true nature was revealed. and what a man he became after the big reveal! so cunning and smug and still so delightful to the people he was trying to fuck over, while he was fucking them over. i LOVE him, and it's so funny to me that his downfall was that marian slayed that hard that he couldn't stop thinking about her, have i said that i adore marian?

anyway, amazing book, read it now

sultanareads's review against another edition

5.0

This was soo good!

Plot twist after plot twist

nicovivi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.5