Reviews tagging 'Child death'

El castillo de Otranto by Horace Walpole

10 reviews

themysteriousshow's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense 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

2.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

jess_tries2read's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark funny mysterious sad fast-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

4.0

Insane! A British guy in the 1700s made up a story and called it a lost ancient text. 

Set in ~1000 AD Italy, Prince Manfred and his wife know their house is cursed. When their sickly son dies on his wedding day, Manfred sees the end of his line. In desperation, he seems to entrap his son's would-be-wife into marriage. Isabella escapes, and on the way to seek sanctuary at a church she meets a mysterious youth, a meeting which fulfills the prophecy. 

This short novella has ghosts, giants, princesses, princes, monks, a silly maid, and a great villain in the form of Prince Manfred. Super weird but entertaining, 4/5 stars for how the grown men act on this story. For shame!
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

angie11290's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

3.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

3.75

Everything I thought the first gothic novel would be. You’ve got that “is it supernatural?” element, dark, foreboding castle, a main character going off the deep end, and a troubled romantic subplot. The narrator of this audiobook was excellent and I’m going to need to see a Mike Flanagan adaptation of this one.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

filipa_maia's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious tense 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

3.0

This book is Romeo & Juliet meets gothic. It's a classic novel so it has its flaws and clichés - women keep fainting for everything; other women immediately assume that they are dead... the usual.

In some parts is very confusing, a lot of characters with weird intentions and very melodramatic.

Overall, this book was not amazing but it was entertaining. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

raoulalexander's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny mysterious fast-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

3.5

Surprisingly funny. Engaging and had its "spooky" moments. Pretty good for the first Gothic novel.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

bweeb's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

3.75

As a precursor to the gothic genre, or as the first gothic novel, you can indeed see the cultural influence it has had on the genre as a whole; from the suspense, terror, and horror, to the treatment of the divine, the gothic, and the supernatural, it is a masterpiece. In terms of plot, it is interesting, but at times does fall flat - whether it be the lack of description or excess of exposition, it feels dull or not fully fleshed-out. The fast-pace of the novel is often juxtaposed by long bouts of dialogue, but I would still consider it to be extremely fast-paced. As such, I found myself struggling to connect with characters. This being said, the pace certainly held the suspense throughout the novel, and was seldom diffused until the end of the novel and sometimes of the chapter. Overall, I really enjoyed this novel, but it does not come without its flaws. A great read if you're interested in the gothic genre, but I would not necessarily call it the epitome of the gothic genre.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

coolfijiwater's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious fast-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

3.25

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

readwithbells's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.75

OG review: 1.5 stars
Boring and misogynistic and just a bad story lol. It gets half a star for starting with a giant helmet crushing someone - top tier supernatural event. If you don’t have to read this, don’t. 

Also the audiobook on Spotify is absolutely hilarious in how bad it is. 
___
Updated Review after reading for gothics class
Ok idk why I hated this the first time I read it but it is anything but boring. This is an absolutely chaotic and wild ride that reads like a soap opera. There’s gigantic ghosts and curses and prophecies and a lot of hilarious “we are related” reveals. I do 100% still agree with myself that Walpole has never met a woman in real life (apart from possibly a servant woman because Bianca is the best character) but honestly this is a romp. Go in with minimal expectations (and read it physically do NOT read an audiobook you will miss all the sneaky lil references) and I think you’ll have a good time. 

Read a second time for Romantic Period Gothic Fiction and Revolution. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

rey_therese07's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense
  • 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

2.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings