Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin

16 reviews

stephanieanneauthor's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Believe it or not, I haven't seen the movie yet (but it is on my list). But movie or no movie, I had to give the book a try as I'm a fan of Levin's writing style. I will note that the sound quality of the audiobook is less than stellar, but other than that this book is phenomenal. 

As someone who's lived through it, I love stories that involve gaslighting as it adds to the tension and discomfort. And I wanted to scream at some of the obstacles Rosemary encountered. In those early chapters, I wasn't too sure how I would feel about her, but I came to love her character arc. I've also noticed recently that I tend to be more drawn to domestic horror stories. There's something delightfully unsettling about home life gone wrong, and situations that should be safe and comforting, but are not. 

Can't wait to watch the movie now!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Sexual violence, Blood, Rape, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Child death, and Sexual content

Minor: Addiction, Abortion, Miscarriage, and Homophobia

b00murded's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Rape, Infertility, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Grief, Death, and Murder

Minor: Abortion and Confinement

smolhandsdan's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Stalking, Misogyny, Body horror, Body shaming, Physical abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Confinement, Kidnapping, and Mental illness

Minor: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Rape, Sexism, and Religious bigotry

bookbelle5_17's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

Review of Rosemary’s Baby

By: Ira Levin

            Rosemary and Guy are a young happy couple eager to move into the famous Bramford apartment.  When they move in, they meet this elderly couple, Roman and Mini Castavets, who are very willing to insert themselves in Rosemary and Guy’s lives.  Rosemary finally gets pregnant the Castavets help Rosemary with it, but she begins to suspect they have wicked intensions for her baby.

Rosemary’s Baby focuses not only on the occult and devil worship, but also on the fears of expecting mothers.  Am I harming my child before its born?  How do make I sure my baby is born good?  It is one of those horror stories where our protagonists’ sanity is put to the test and can any of the other characters can be trusted.  Rosemary is constantly gaslighted and is condescended to by her husband, Guy, and she is so submissive to him in most of the story.  The Castavets are written in a way that makes them seem like they mean well, but they’re trying too hard to be involved with Rosemary’s pregnancy, especially when she barely knows them.  The horror is written in a subtle way where the reader doesn’t know for sure of what’s going on.  I found myself getting frustrated with Rosemary, because I wanted her to stand up for herself and not trust the Castavets.  Unless you don’t believe in the devil, this possibility is absolutely terrifying, but also even if you don’t believe the idea of these, who do believe is quite frightening as well.  This is an older novel published in the 60s and has casual racist mentalities.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, Suicide, and Confinement

Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism

carlytenille's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Gaslighting, Rape, Suicide, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, and Religious bigotry

bdingz's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.75

I haven’t seen the film, but I know the basics of the story, so I wasn’t sure if I would get much out of the book. I was wrong! While some aspects of the story are dated (some casual racism and homophobia here and there), the relevant bits surprised me. 

The real horror story here is medical gaslighting!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Rape, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Blood, Kidnapping, and Confinement

Minor: Ableism, Religious bigotry, Death, Homophobia, Vomit, and Racism

jaimc's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Suicide, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Death, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Racism and Confinement

kbaker45's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Rape, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Suicide, Abortion, Addiction, Cannibalism, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Child death, Infertility, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

mandi_lea's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, and Rape

Moderate: Death, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Confinement

elliexreads's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Death, Rape, Suicide, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Murder, Gaslighting, and Violence