Reviews tagging 'Cultural appropriation'

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

43 reviews

aude's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Classism, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Ableism, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Incest, Cancer, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Animal cruelty, Suicide, Cultural appropriation, and Death of parent

daniellarae's review against another edition

mysterious reflective relaxing 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

3.75

Beautifully written but not that much actually happens. The book focuses mainly on relationship dynamics and society of the time period which is interesting to interpret and dissect. Beatrice Lacy was the only enjoyable character for me, but Frank was a sweetheart.

I was a bit disappointed at the lack of ghostly presence and atmosphere that I was expecting. I thought it would be creepier. The twist was also quite predictable.

A classic nonetheless.

(My content warning tags may contain some minor spoilers)

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Incest, Terminal illness, Murder, Body shaming, Cultural appropriation, Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, and Suicide

bone_empress's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism

Moderate: Bullying, Classism, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Cultural appropriation and Incest

Ableism: there's an adult character that may have a developmental disability. People talk down to him and use disparaging words to describe him, and he is portrayed as being unintelligent. It's also heavily implied that he may have also been emotionally abused in the past and threatened with being institutionalized. The character is not present for most of the book. Bullying and emotional abuse: one character is intentionally hurtful to the narrator, playing upon the narrator's fears and insecurities. The narrator's husband stonewalls her sometimes and the narrator is impacted negatively. Cultural appropriation: Characters dress up in appropriated attire at an event. One is in brown face. Incest: a secondary character had a consensual relationship with a non-immediate family member in the past. Not described in detail. Suicide: a character is theorized to have successfully ended their life and the method is generally described but does not give violent details. Suicidal thoughts (very mild spoiler, no names):

a character tries to convince another character to jump out a window from which they would not survive the fall. No attempt is made.

batcaves's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Sexism, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Cancer, Cultural appropriation, Gun violence, Infertility, Medical content, Suicide, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Grief

rozydozy's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism and Violence

Minor: Cultural appropriation

bethantg's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Dysphoria, Infidelity, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Alcohol, Medical content, and Gun violence

Minor: Terminal illness and Cultural appropriation

froukjemelenhorst's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

My god there is SO MUCH to unpack here😵‍💫😵‍💫

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Cultural appropriation, and Racism

Moderate: Suicide and Domestic abuse

Minor: Cancer

reading_under_covers's review against another edition

4.5

This one took me a couple of chapters before I got sucked into it, but wow, what a haunting, clever, gothic story. 

The fact that the MC is never given a name really added to the story and the ending had me 🤯 👀 

Note: There were a couple of problematic scenes, which I guess at the time wouldn’t have come across that way, but were cringe and uncomfortable to read in the modern day.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Cultural appropriation, and Murder

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Infidelity

Minor: Incest

rhi_reading's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

While this classic novel does have some elements that haven’t aged well, the overarching theme of the story has undoubtedly stood the test of time. 
Frequently undersold as a ‘gothic romance’, du Maurier’s ‘Rebecca’ is a masterclass in character work, suspense, and atmosphere. The titular character never appears or speaks a word throughout the novel but is so incredibly well written through the accounts of all the supporting characters that she stands out more than any of them. 

The contrast of the headstrong and fiery Rebecca with the diminutive and awkward nameless narrator is one of the highlights of the book and a sharp take on the classic Madonna-Whore complex. Du Maurier manipulates her readers until the very end in to sympathising and hating the characters she wants us to despite their actions and motives,  and asking us to consider what these feelings say about our own morality - after all, the truth doesn’t mean anything against a well crafted story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Murder, Death, Suicide, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Murder

Minor: Cultural appropriation and Racism

pippohno's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense

• 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Cultural appropriation and Infertility