Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter

58 reviews

melles_gothic_reads's review against another edition

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dark inspiring 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? It's complicated

3.5

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river_dithers's review against another edition

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

4.5

I read this book for the second time, and I love it just as much! Carter's command of words is incredible, and I had to reach for my phone to find meanings of certain words. That does not mean it wasn't beautiful. My favourite story was Lady of the House of Love, and I loved the tortured characters. The beastliness of this collection is surprising, but enticing. It forced me to confront my own preconceptions about femininity and humanity.
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karenschlesser's review against another edition

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

4.0

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heartofhorrors's review

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

3.0

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alysian_fields's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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suchsweetsorrow89's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

3.0

probably more like a 3.5— carter's rendition of classic fairy tale stories are frankly quite beautiful. it hits you with a punch in ways that are incredibly vivid, incredibly reflective, incredibly feminist, and— at times— incredibly erotic. i initially read "the bloody chamber" in high school, but we never read anything in the collection beyond that story. thus, to conclude my summer of horror readings, i honestly couldn't think of any better ending than revisiting an old book to see what i used to believe were the important aspects of the stories and what i believe them to be now. it also serves as a way for me to test how my interactions with the horror and gothic genre has evolved, so pretty neat!

that being said, i think this time reading it in full has given me a stronger sense of carter's capabilities as a writer and as a storyteller. each story left me thinking about a lot. considering the more feminist aspects of this text, she approaches far beyond what i expected it to: from detailed accounts of performativity within gender roles, to characters that openly embrace the "wild" regardless of the costs, even to leaving me thinking about how masculinity and femininity are both two sides of the same coin vastly effected under the patriarchy (a move that most feminist writers and thinkers barely consider!). i rate this a 3.5 because, as is the case with all short stories, some left me feeling great and others not so much. i also think that it would have been a better experience for me had i actually read most of these stories in their original forms, since carter adapts a kind of writing style that seems to replicate that (great for symbolism, but hard for accessibility). overall, i think it is worth the read if you're up for it. in particular, i liked "the bloody chamber," "the courtship of mr. lyon," "puss-in-boots," "the snowchild," and "the lady of the house of love"
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ichthusangel's review against another edition

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

3.0

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hannahws's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Eerie! Angela Carter’s writing style is swoon-worthy, so rich and sensual. Dark and foreboding, these are the types of short stories that linger in the brain long after you’ve finished reading them. My favourites were “The Bloody Chamber”, “The Tiger’s Bride”, “Puss-in-Boots”, and “The Lady of the House of Love”
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mrs_gale's review against another edition

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

1.0

I really didn't like this, i found it very tedious and often boring which surprised me. Carter is a feminist and you can tell with the themes of innocence female victims and the animalistic, primitive nature of male characters repeated in every story. 

I found the writing difficult to follow, Carter changes from characters and the narrator quite often which I didn't like. 


There are 10 short stories in this book. 

1. THE BLOODY CHAMBER.
Didn't mind this story, but I've never read the original Bluebeard story this is based from.

2. THE COURTSHIP OF MR LYON.
Just a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Nothing special yet I adore Beauty and the Beast so I thought I'd enjoy this but nope. 

3. THE TIGER'S BRIDE.
Another Beauty and the Beast retelling. Beauty ends up with the Beast because her dad gambles her away. Beauty's father isn't the usual sweet, kind man and I thought it was an interesting take on it . However the Beast just wants to see her naked and at the end Beauty turns herself into a beast so she can be with the Beast. Urgh. 

4. PUSS IN BOOTS.
Most interesting main character in all these stories. The story was a bit odd though. 

5. THE ERL KING.
Way too odd and didn't like it. 

6  THE SNOW CHILD.
Shortest story in this book by far but probably the most shocking. 

7. THE LADY OF THE HOUSE OF LOVE.
Didn't like this one at all. 

8. THE WEREWOLF.
Odd she wasn't bothered by her Granny's death. 

9. THE COMPANY OF WOLVES.
I don't remember this one. Odd since it's near the end of the book so I read it only a few hours ago. 

10  WOLF-ALICE.
A weird one. Didn't enjoy it.

Overall I do not recommend. This was almost a DNF for me. 
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amu_m3's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense fast-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? N/A

2.75

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