Rating: 
Summary: absolutely the worst ending ever for any book I ever read.
Review: Over 800 pages, and the ending is like the author himself got tired of trying to figure out what to do with his own story and just walked away. I want my money back, and my time it took to read this book. Comparing him to Dickens is so misleading to true fans of literature. The book started out interesting enought to keep me going though it bogged down in the middle. The characters never developed, we got page after page of their same behavior without new insight. Henry burns to death in the middle of the book just when I was beginning to see him as the savior who would somehow tie all the characters' narratives together. That was just one example of disappointment in this pathetic book. Save your money!
Rating: 
Summary: Somewhat disappointed
Review: I would like to give the book 4 or 5 stars but have to agree with others about the abrupt ending. I was completely enthralled with the book and wondered where destiny would next take Sugar when she ended up in the Rackham household; that is a bit of a stretch for Victorian England. I could understand the subtle and not so subtle changes in her emotions up to that point. Once she entered the household, I felt as if I was reading two different books. What happened to William's obsession with her? Where was the passion? Those who don't know the plot, please read no further because I have a question for those who have read the book. Why did she interefere with Agnes being sent to the asylum? She's an obviously intelligent woman and knows that is the best course, yet she takes "pity" on her and sends her to God knows where. That completely baffled me. I could understand her affection for his daughter too and it's comparison to her pitiful upbringing, but the ending seems just a bit fantastic. I would love to recommend it wholeheartedly but really can't. I felt as if the author changed horses in midstream and the characters, especially Sugar, suffered. William, who I had a certain amount of sympathy for, comes off very badly and that is probably a somewhat honest portrayal of a man of his standing. But I still can't get past him allowing Sugar to come into the home as a governess.
Rating: 
Summary: a disappointment
Review: Do book reviewers actually read past the first few chapters? In this case, I suspect not. The Crimson Petal gets off to a very promising start (perhaps the first few chapters spent a lot of time being rewritten in workshops?) and then slowly loses steam until it completely fizzles out at the end. Sugar, so defiant and strong in the beginning of the book, has utterly lost her spirit by the time the story reaches its flaccid non-ending. Why create such an appealing character only to nonsensically transform her into a lovelorn weakling?
Rating:
Summary: Waste of time
Review: What a disappointment, I read this book based on the glowing reviews that are mostly present here at Amazon. I should have followed the advice of the negative ones. When finished, I felt that I had completely wasted my time and money. The novel did not know what it wanted to be, a passionate love story (which it wasn't), a steamy story (which it wasn't) or a examination of the class system in Victorian England (which was very shallow). IT seemed to change direction every couple hundres pages. I could not care for any of the characters. All were hypocrites and unlikable. Characters were introduced which did not add to the story, most were never completed or were pointless. Why was the religious brother in the story at all, he finally admits he is in love with a woman then dies in a house fire, which is never described. The style of narrative was inconsistent and not very effective. Generally there was no closure to any of the themes/threads of the story. On the positive side the settings were well described and easily visualized. This book was one of the worst books I have read in years. It might have been better with a strong editor and a major rewrite. Was this book published from a first draft?
Rating: 
Summary: A Banquet of a Book!
Review: Here's an epic (in sheer size alone) that deals with Victorian British repressed (and expressed) sexuality that is never pornographic--an outstanding accomplishment. With fully realized characters and some highly insightful behavior, along with several truly shocking scenes (Dr. Curlew's examination of poor Agnes, wife of "hero" William Rackham; William's use of his semi-conscious wife) that reveal both the prurience and contempt most of the male characters have for women. William is alternately a likeable and a loathsome character whose pride and self-indulgence are, in the end, his most telling qualities. The heroine, Sugar, is a remarkable achievement: a flesh-and-blood heroine who is imaginative, intelligent and, ultimately, the most decent person in the book, as well as the most valuable. With flawless research seamlessly woven into the narrative, author Faber manages to recreate the sights and smells and even the feel of London in the third quarter of the 19th century. That he is able, with consummate pacing, to keep one eagerly reading is a testament to his skill. What is particularly touching is Sugar's evolution into someone capable of loving acts, especially in her relationship with William's nightmarishly neglected six-year-old daughter, Sophie. The gradually strengthening bond between a young woman thrust into prostitution by her mother and a child rejected by her mother since birth is powerfully affecting. In the tradition of 19th century novels, this is a lengthy tale, told in great and vivid detail. Yet the potent narrative drive maintains a forceful momentum. An exquisite creation, wonderfully well told, with an ending that is left to the reader's imagination--something, it appears, any number of people are unwilling to use. One must applaud author Faber for having the courage not to tie everything up neatly at the end but rather to allow one to make educated guesses about what becomes of the central characters.
Most highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Note to the Publisher:
Review: The publisher should examine the editing practices that allow a non-ending of this formless kind on such a large investment (publisher and reader). The income from the same book with a better ending would have been more than double. Every reader tells his friend, "Great book, except for the ending." In the case of readers who pride themselves on "liking" the ending (nothing there to like), they say "I loved the book, though many are not sophisticated enough to like the ending." (Again, what's to like? The ending is not there.) In both cases most people they are talking to do not buy the book. First wave only, maybe part of a second wave. There could have been a year's worth of sales here. Best advice: Don't reveal the ending! It'll spoil it for others! (Huh! What ending??)
Rating: 
Summary: Graphic, But Great
Review: If you read Slammerkin or The Dress Lodger, you'll enjoy this book as well: it's very similar to the former, and less dreary than the latter. However, this book shares their somewhat gruesome graphic quality (the smells sometime virtually rise off the page) - it's not for the faint of heart. More positively, "The Crimson Petal" shows that even in an age of both figurative and literal constriction, women could escape their exploiters/oppressors. Like the reviewer ..., I was somewhat frustrated by the abrupt ending of this novel, though its deliberate ambiguity may simply be reflective of the uncertainty of the times and the charcters' morality themselves. A warning: jlind's review mentions a critical plot point that occurs near the end of the book - it's better to skip reading it, if you want that point to reveal itself to you.
Rating:
Summary: What Happened???
Review: This book was highly entertaining and readable full of lush prose and rich character development. I will not write a synopsis of the plot as many reviewers tend to do for some reason, but will say that I was bitterly disappointed by the abrupt unsatisfying ending. Another reviewer compared it to a power outage during a television program and I couldn't agree more! This one even surpasses Donna Tartt's ending of "The Little Friend" in terms of an unsatisfying ending of an otherwise great novel.
Rating:
Summary: A good read, but, in the end, a let down
Review: I just completed this book and found it magical in some respects--it transported me to another time and place, although the kinds of details that Faber perseverates on tend to be perverse and repetitive. I was taken in by Sugar, a young woman who was born in 19th century Victorian England, where the opportunities for a woman in her class were negligible, despite her obvious charms and intellect. Of course, anyone reading this book, including most men, would have wanted to see her prevail over the challenging obstacles she had to deal with. Women were depicted as weak, supificial and easily manipulated, with the exception of Emmeline Fox who followed her heart (although she was the daughter of a prominent doctor and had resources), recognized the problems of her time, and even overcame a dreadful illness. The men in this novel were outrageous, poorly behaved and entirely repulsive. Given an 800 page read, Faber could have given the reader more satisfaction and done a better job developing his characters. It's as if his own personal issues did not allow him to move his characters forward and provide more satisfaction for the reader. An 800 page novel is an investment of time. I noticed that many of the customer reviews expressed disappointment at the end of the book because we were not given the closure and information that we deserved around these characters he took so long to develop. I think our author got tired at the end and just wanted to end it. Where was his wife who supposedly helped him edit the book??
Rating:
Summary: I really wanted to love this book...
Review: but I just couldn't bring myself to. I was so looking forward to reading it and I ended up disappointed. I normally love a "big, fat" historical novel, but this one just didn't do it for me. I loved the premise of the book, and it seemed to have a good heart to it. However, it was just too wordy for me. I think with a little more editing, I would have loved it. I'd give it 5 stars for effort, but I can't bring myself to rate it any higher than a 3 for my overall enjoyment.
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