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readwithbells's review against another edition
4.0
I was really not enjoying this book at first and found the entire first volume incredibly dull. However, once the story really got started in the second volume, all the worldbuilding established at first pays off in Caleb’s adventures and by the end I was really invested in him! The published ending - Godwin’s second ending - hit me like a hammer. I felt really betrayed at Caleb’s apparent regression as a character, and I definitely prefer the original ending (though I understand the reasons why Godwin wrote the second one and stuck with it). All in all, this is a good gothic! A little heavy handed in the political beliefs and not nearly enough women, but I love that rather than being confined to a castle, Caleb is confined to the entirety of England and it’s still not vast enough to protect him from the gothic villain of Falkland.
Read for Gothics class.
Read for Gothics class.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Police brutality, and Gaslighting
Minor: Sexual assault
catherinedsharp's review against another edition
mysterious
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
0.5
DISCLAIMER - I read this text as a set text for university meaning I did not pick this up for myself. It does not necessarily fit my usual reading selection so my review may be rather biased.
Repetitive and dull. The protagonist repeated the same actions over and over again and didn’t seem to have any development at all.
There is writing of a prison escape that lasts for multiple pages; it’s drawn out, like a lot of this book, and is just not entertaining.
Even if this book is meant to be an analysis of justice, I really think it could have been written with a more interesting plot and selection of characters.
Repetitive and dull. The protagonist repeated the same actions over and over again and didn’t seem to have any development at all.
There is writing of a prison escape that lasts for multiple pages; it’s drawn out, like a lot of this book, and is just not entertaining.
Even if this book is meant to be an analysis of justice, I really think it could have been written with a more interesting plot and selection of characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Police brutality, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Death
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