Reviews with content warning for Racism - Rosemary's Baby

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.

Content Warnings

bdingz's review against another edition

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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!

Content Warnings