Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - The Scarlet Letter

If I am being completely honest, I only actually read the first half of this and a few chapters in class, but the final four or so were me reading the cliffsnotes summaries because reading this was just so tedious. I didn’t hate it and I kind of liked the story (I love when things call out religious hypocrisy) but it was just okay. I know it’s an older book and a classic so the language and pacing wasn’t exactly like how books are now, but there was far too much description of things for me to handle. The chapters (and the book) would have been much shorter if Hawthorne had just cut out about half the descriptions. The story itself was interesting and pretty good, but it was a bit difficult to get through (hence the use of cliffsnotes towards the end).

ALSO if Dimmesdale was really feeling that guilty WHY DIDNT HE JUST CONFESS like he ranted about “oh Hester you’ve had it much easier than I” and blah blah blah as if he wasn’t the most beloved man in the town while she was shunned by literally everyone 🙄
Honestly, Pearl was my favorite part of the book because she was funny and just the most relatable (yes I know she’s 7)- doesn’t like people, hates affection unless it’s from someone she’s close to/ affection she starts, prefers to play with animals/ by herself rather than other children, etc. Pearl is the best and everyone else can go away (Hester can stay cus she’s her mom and also she pushed through everything so she’s cool)

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emilyreadsthings's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

wcharliebrown's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

kathryngardyne's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

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midnightcomets's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective 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

3.0

I didn't really expect to ever read this, but I had to, for a university class, and while I didn't enjoy it, I still enjoyed it more than Wuthering Heights, which I also read in this class. Furthermore, I started to like it at some point, but the ending put me off. The characters are really complex and have interesting sides as well, thankfully, especially Hester. Also, it is very funny to me that all the Puritan elements are in here, like people thinking the devil is in the woods.

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