Reviews with content warning for Infidelity - The Miniaturist

a very slow start, but it picked up a lot in the middle. the end kind of ground to a halt for me, though. the miniaturist adds an element of magical realism throughout the novel, and at the end gets pulled back down into realism while while also not being really explained. i wish that the book had either left that very open-ended and magical or given more detail, as the middle ground really doesn’t work for me. however, this was overall an interesting glimpse at a period in history i know literally nothing about.
i never would have read this if not for it being a book club pick, but i don’t regret it.
MAJOR content warning for societal homophobia of the sort you would expect from a puritan nation in the 1600s.

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rayne31's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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nrogers_1030's review against another edition

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emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I’ve tried to listen to this last year & found it dull. Fast forward and I wanted to give it another shot, but I chose to read instead of listening to the audiobook. I loved it! I could hardly put it down until I could finish. It has a slower pace, but the amount of character building … it was just phenomenal. I wish there was a “happily ever after” because I love those, but it would have been far-fetched & stretched at best.

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itsbumley's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

2.5

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sophduncan's review

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emotional mysterious medium-paced

3.5

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katenovah's review against another edition

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mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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gemmascott's review against another edition

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challenging dark inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

For me, this was a book about hypocrisy and change. How people often project an image of themselves to the world that is very different to their inner selves, and how, despite their expectations, people can change and grow, often in ways they had never anticipated. It isn’t the best “historical” novel I’ve ever read (there were a few glaring anachronisms), but it was beautifully written and I thoroughly enjoyed the story.

I loved the fact that this book was inspired by an object displayed in the Rijksmuseum and feel like the choice of setting was helpful in exploring some of the themes, including race, gender and sexuality.

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