Reviews with content warning for Blood - Il miniaturista

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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moogblue's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.75

It was quite a slow start, and I found the lack of resolution of some of the mysterious elements a little disappointing but overall I did enjoy the book. The last quarter was the strongest, with a much faster plot as well as some character development.

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esjackson's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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flordemaga's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I love a well-written, immersive historical fiction. And I really like the universe that has been drawn for us to visit along with Nella. I like how complicated all the characters feel. I wish we could get more into Johannes’ head. Maybe more into Marin’s head, but I do like what a mystery she is.

I do wish we knew more about the miniaturist themself. Their inclusion in the story brings tension and mystery so it feels unfortunate that it’s left as a loose end. But given the resolution of other things, I’m not that mad about it.

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soupy_twist's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense 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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charleyyyyy's review against another edition

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I just did not care at all.

The racism and homophobia realy bothered me. It made me so uncomfortable, if I'd have known that this book would have contained such strong racism and homophobia, that is never combated, I wouldn't have picked it up.
I get that this fits with the time period and that it would have been unrealistic for a black man and a gay man to exist in this time and not face prejudice, but when writing things like that, the narrative should fight against this so that the book doesn't end up pushing these ideas.
For a white author to use the N word is gross and completely unnecessary.
It's clear that the author only uses Johannes' queerness as a shocking plot twist, and something to add to the tragedy of the main charicters life.
Also the word "sodomite" is used to describe his sexuality???
Speaking of the main charicter, i didn't like her at all. She was just so selfish and annoying and bland that I just can't get myself to care about her.
So I gave up reading it bc these are things I just can't get past. I know I won't enjoy reading it, so I won't.

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danikajoan's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
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

4.0

Read this during my trip to Amsterdam and really enjoyed reading it within that setting (and gasped when I saw the cabinets at the Rijksmuseum that are so similar to the ones described in the book). I like this specific “young bride, mysterious husband (mean sister)” plot, reminds me of The Mercies and Phantom Thread and so many other stories I love. I felt like the writing here lacked a little bit of focus or direction but not enough to keep me from enjoying the story.

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vanessaeco's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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