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joareads's review against another edition
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
A very strange book that starts off with a funeral and then we get to see the events leading up to that point. Petronella marries a wealthy man and soon becomes swept up in his family and their secrets, meanwhile a miniaturist predicts their future through little figurines.
This has got to be one of the oddest books I've read where I could have stopped reading, but I just wanted to find out whose funeral it is at the beginning and so I kept on with the story. It starts off quite slow and the first half trudges along but it finally picks up where some information comes to light and hidden truths unravel.
I didn't really get on with any of the characters, I'm not keen on the story and I'm not happy with how it ended. There are no warnings at the start about racism or homophobia and these parts are quite unsettling to read.
Sadly this book isn't for me. It doesn't feel magical and it's not very enjoyable to read - there is a lot of misery and some horrid parts with animal death, racism and homophobia. I think a lot more could have been done with the miniaturist and a lot more magic weaved into the story with some comeuppance for the villains.
This has got to be one of the oddest books I've read where I could have stopped reading, but I just wanted to find out whose funeral it is at the beginning and so I kept on with the story. It starts off quite slow and the first half trudges along but it finally picks up where some information comes to light and hidden truths unravel.
I didn't really get on with any of the characters, I'm not keen on the story and I'm not happy with how it ended. There are no warnings at the start about racism or homophobia and these parts are quite unsettling to read.
Sadly this book isn't for me. It doesn't feel magical and it's not very enjoyable to read - there is a lot of misery and some horrid parts with animal death, racism and homophobia. I think a lot more could have been done with the miniaturist and a lot more magic weaved into the story with some comeuppance for the villains.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Homophobia, and Racism
balfies's review against another edition
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
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
4.0
Another historical fiction, this one set in 1620's Amsterdam about the new wife of a merchant and the secrets of their house.
Great historical detail and richness, characters with depth, well paced, ambiguous mystery, and enough tension throughout. Not necessarily a must read, but certainly an enjoyable one!
Great historical detail and richness, characters with depth, well paced, ambiguous mystery, and enough tension throughout. Not necessarily a must read, but certainly an enjoyable one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Slavery, Abortion, and Colonisation
Minor: Child death
vanadiumbean's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Police brutality, and Medical content
Minor: Slavery, Torture, and Colonisation
katenovah's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Murder
texassizedreads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.0
The book itself was 2 stars, one star subtracted from my final rating because of the completely unnecessary use of the n-word by a white author. I felt like the aspect of the story I cared about most (the mystery of the miniaturist) was left unresolved. The rest of the story was relatively bland and I found Nella's character to be pretty annoying.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content and Pregnancy
Moderate: Animal death, Homophobia, Racism, Xenophobia, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Racial slurs
em2jules's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
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? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Stalking
Moderate: Sexism, Torture, Excrement, Police brutality, and Grief
sauvageloup's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This is a difficult one to rate. It isn't my usual taste, it was a gift, so it's hard to compare to what I usually read.
pros:
- the second half was quite gripping and grabs hold of you. The writing is good, straightforward but with turns of beauty, pacy and smooth.
- i liked Nella. She could easily have been annoying, but she's written so that her naivety is very forgivable and she's a good character, growing as the book goes on. The other characters were good too, and I wished we'd seen more of Otto.
- I liked how the plot all came together, it was satisfying to see the threads emerge.
- I appreciated that Johannes was shown to be a complex person, not just his sexuality.
- clearly a great deal of research had gone into the thing, which was impressive.
- I liked how Nella did grow as a character over the book and got up on her own two feet when needed.
cons:
- slow at the start.
- I didn't feel we got a in-depth look at the characters. Johannes was probably the most explored.
- the book did feel inevitable, which was a downer, though it wasn't handled badly.
- I didn't much like the way that it was offered up that women can have more than marriage, and yet those who try in the book ended up dead. And Marin claimed not to want to be a wife, but she dearly wants the baby and is willing to die for it. It felt a shame that we didn't actually get to see a woman decide not to marry and to succeed.
- the book wasn't what I expected and felt unresolved in many ways. I expected more creepiness with the miniaturist and whilst it was less of a cliche than I expected (no strange noises or lights from the house in the night for example), the miniaturist felt underused. She disappears, unexplained, and whilst that was part of her character, Nella never even got to meet her. Was she supposed to represent fate or god? What did the little house achieve exactly? It didn't add much to the story, despite being the main focus of the blurb, title and cover.
- the story itself also felt somewhat incomplete. I suppose you can imagine what'll happen next but i was left thinking of all the misery Thea would face with the racism and it just felt really sad (I understand that's realistic, I just don't know whether it was meant to be a bittersweet end, because it was primarily just bitter).
- it was miserable that Johannes died. Very 'bury your gays'.
- Also, personally, I hate birth scenes and this one was particularly gory. Also the sex parts earlier felt like like they were meant to shock. I understand that we see from 18-year-old Nella's POV, but it did feel... excessively lurid at times.
overall, I'm not sure what to say really. The writing and plot was good, I enjoyed it and wanted to keep reading, but it wasn't quite my thing and I didn't love it.
pros:
- the second half was quite gripping and grabs hold of you. The writing is good, straightforward but with turns of beauty, pacy and smooth.
- i liked Nella. She could easily have been annoying, but she's written so that her naivety is very forgivable and she's a good character, growing as the book goes on. The other characters were good too, and I wished we'd seen more of Otto.
- I liked how the plot all came together, it was satisfying to see the threads emerge.
- I appreciated that Johannes was shown to be a complex person, not just his sexuality.
- clearly a great deal of research had gone into the thing, which was impressive.
- I liked how Nella did grow as a character over the book and got up on her own two feet when needed.
cons:
- slow at the start.
- I didn't feel we got a in-depth look at the characters. Johannes was probably the most explored.
- the book did feel inevitable, which was a downer, though it wasn't handled badly.
- the book wasn't what I expected and felt unresolved in many ways. I expected more creepiness with the miniaturist and whilst it was less of a cliche than I expected (no strange noises or lights from the house in the night for example), the miniaturist felt underused. She disappears, unexplained, and whilst that was part of her character, Nella never even got to meet her. Was she supposed to represent fate or god? What did the little house achieve exactly? It didn't add much to the story, despite being the main focus of the blurb, title and cover.
- the story itself also felt somewhat incomplete. I suppose you can imagine what'll happen next but i was left thinking of all the misery Thea would face with the racism and it just felt really sad (I understand that's realistic, I just don't know whether it was meant to be a bittersweet end, because it was primarily just bitter).
- it was miserable that Johannes died. Very 'bury your gays'.
- Also, personally, I hate birth scenes and this one was particularly gory. Also the sex parts earlier felt like like they were meant to shock. I understand that we see from 18-year-old Nella's POV, but it did feel... excessively lurid at times.
overall, I'm not sure what to say really. The writing and plot was good, I enjoyed it and wanted to keep reading, but it wasn't quite my thing and I didn't love it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Blood, Excrement, Grief, and Death of parent
mmefish's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
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
3.5
I enjoyed this book but would not recommend it. It is a solid piece of historical fiction but a bad mystery novel. I feel like the miniaturist part (oh, the irony) was actually unnecessary, and the story did not gain anything from it.
Favourite quotes:
Favourite quotes:
“True love was a flower in the gut, its petals unfurling inside out. You would risk all for love - blissful, never without its drops of dismay.”
“When you have truly come to know a person, Nella - when you see beneath the sweeter gestures, the smiles - when you see the rage and the pitiful fear which each of us hide - then forgiveness is everything. We are all in desperate need of it.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, and Death of parent
Minor: Miscarriage and Sexual assault
emma_gracie_girl's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. It surprised me and kept me engaged the whole way through. I didn't grasp the full message of the story, but it is a complicated one so I may come back to it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Homophobia, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Religious bigotry
cbrooks288's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Racism