Reviews with content warning for Infidelity - The Night Watch

I don't particularly care for WW2 historical novels to begin with, and the way this book is written end to beginning actually kind of ruined it even more. By the time I was somewhat invested in the characters and interested in seeing where they ended up, it was too late and I was stuck with where they had been. I also just found most of the characters some degree of annoying personally. However, the book itself is pretty well-written, it just uses stylistic choices I wouldn't have for this particular story.

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steviaplath's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

3.75

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rieviolet's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.0

This book felt even longer than it is, it was a bit of a hard slog for me to get to the end. I really wanted to try a book by Sarah Waters but I think I did not choose the right one.
I do not question her writing style (she clearly is really a very accomplished writer) but I was left quite disappointed with the story itself.

I had a really hard time connecting with the characters and their relationships and even understanding their actions/motivations. Aside from Kay and Duncan a bit, for the others, I have to be honest, I cared very little and I was not much captivated by their storylines.

I'm not sure that I really understand the author's decision to rearrange the chronological order of the events, I do not think that it added to the story, quite the opposite actually.
In the first section you are thrown into the characters' circumstances without
knowing anything about how they got there and, at least for me, it made it hard to get through the story, it was difficult to understand and get close to the characters. I think that the end also suffered from this narrative choice; it felt quite abrupt and like we were left with nothing much in terms of a closure, just loose threads.

Lastly, be mindful of the trigger warnings, there were a couple of scenes that very really difficult for me to read,

Helen's scene of self-harm was especially hard and upsetting.

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abbie_'s review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-paced

I’ve finished all of Sarah Waters’ work and now all I can do is wait for more queer historical shenanigans and melodrama 😭 Usually when I use the term ‘melodrama’ in a review, it’s not a great one, but I find Waters’ melodrama to be so engrossing, engaging, just fun! But she does have a more serious side as well. That’s a given since we’re talking queer people in the 1940s, when such a thing was outlawed and these women could not be their true selves in public. In The Night Watch, Waters also tackles backstreet abortion, so a big content warning for that. It was brutal.
.
In this book we have Kay, Viv, Duncan, Helen and Julia, all with their own secrets and ties to one another. It’s an interesting structure, as we start in 1947, after the war has ended, and work back to 1941, so you sort of know the results before you know exactly what happened and how. Usually I’m not much one for wartime fiction but obviously this is a different angle (🏳️‍🌈) so I make the exception! It was actually super interesting to see how the war gave women new and more liberated roles, even as these terrible things were happening (as well as, gasp, being allowed to wear trousers 😱). She also wove in a storyline about the conscientious objectors to the war, which I’ve not read much about at all.
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It’s not quite as ~saucy~ as some of her other books, but really it wouldn’t be a Waters novel without a good sex scene or two 😏 Now that I’ve read them all, here are my rankings:
.
1. Fingersmith
2. The Night Watch
3. Tipping the Velvet
4. The Paying Guests
5. Affinity
6. The Little Stranger

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nakutski's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

A slow-paced, complex unfurling of the lives of interconnected strangers and lovers. I found the novel to be rather confusing and slow to begin with. I think it started to shine and take shape for me 1/3 of the way in, once I realised what the author was after, the narration is not linear and we move between 4 character's POVs, there is a lot going on. Enjoyed the historical queerness aspect of it very much, the writing was pleasant but with more flourish than I am used to from my recent reads.

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bookish_sabrina's review

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dark emotional sad slow-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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