Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Mrs. Caliban by Rachel Ingalls

18 reviews

carmina_r's review against another edition

mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Infidelity

vexatiousbird's review against another edition

funny sad 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? No

3.0

It has a kind of understated charm - interesting to take a monster and deposit him into the most mundane domestic setting.
But it can also be a bit tedious reading through those mundane parts. It is also so understated that sometimes things don’t make a lot of sense, like why a housewife and a creature who walked into her house one day are suddenly making love without more than the tiniest hint of sexual tension leading up to it. There is also no detail at all for it, even any mention of how she feels about getting physical with a sea creature or cheating on her husband, it just says they make love and that’s that, moving on without comment.

It suddenly gets very exciting near the end, and then it’s just sad and a little confusing. Up til then it was very slow and I probably would have dropped it if it wasn’t so short.

I can sense some layers of meaning here that I don’t fully grasp, but I’m not intrigued enough to dig further into it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity

Moderate: Child death and Car accident

Minor: Violence

another_dahlia's review against another edition

mysterious fast-paced

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

Moderate: Car accident and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Death, Forced institutionalization, Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Murder, Torture, Violence, and Miscarriage

m_liz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity and Child death

Minor: Sexual content

kananineko's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity

Moderate: Miscarriage and Xenophobia

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Violence, Car accident, Death, Sexual assault, and Torture

mermaidsherbet's review against another edition

emotional funny sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Car accident, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Rape, Toxic relationship, and Violence

ottercorg's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

I picked this one up after seeing it in an article, recommended to those who enjoyed Where the Wild Things Are as a child. It was my favorite, so naturally I wanted to give this one a shot. 

This was easy, funny, and pleasant. I loved the conversations, particularly between Dorothy and Estelle - they felt so natural and real, as if I was right there in the room with them. 

I enjoyed Ingalls’ writing style, and enjoyed the plot. The only reason I’m not giving it a full 5 stars is because the ending was SO fast I nearly got whiplash and it was almost hard to follow. The pace suits the events of the ending, but still, I would’ve appreciated a little more. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Car accident, Death, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Child death, and Murder

florecita_lectora's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

4.25

Loved this quirky love affair between Dorothy, a lonely, loveable housewife, and Larry, a frogman that escaped experimentation and torture. They connect and empathise with each other's traumas. And there's lots of avocados, too. 

I just wish Dorothy got actual closure with Estelle (or maybe that's just my combative side), but alas, maybe we needed that heartbreaking friend breakup.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting and Infidelity

Moderate: Grief, Child death, Torture, and Miscarriage

Minor: Car accident

nialiversuch's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Infidelity, Addiction, Child death, Car accident, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Grief, Mental illness, and Misogyny

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Miscarriage, Murder, Violence, and Mental illness

Minor: Sexual content

savvylit's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

What a novella! Mrs. Caliban is so many things: a romance, a thriller, a feminist fable. Ingalls has managed to pack a heck of a lot of thought-provoking story into this fast-paced little book. Larry's arrival sets Dorothy free from her unsatisfying life. For one, she discovers her own sexual agency. Furthermore, Larry's constant questions about human culture help Dorothy discover the inanity of many societal expectations.

There's so much more that happens in Mrs. Caliban, but that's about all I can say without spoiling the novella. Suffice it to say, I love this book. A short feminist fable with magical realism? My favorite genre! I can't wait to track down more of Ingalls' work.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Child death, Animal death, Murder, and Grief

Moderate: Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, and Toxic friendship