Reviews tagging 'Abortion'

Blondi by Joyce Carol Oates

9 reviews

bloodypuppe's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

britanicadramatica's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

I have incredibly conflicting feelings about this book. It is incredibly well-written, yet it is very slow-paced. There were several times where I picked up the book and felt like I had been reading for hours, only to have read about 20 pages. What causes me conflict, is that it is a fictional "exploration" of the life of Marilyn Monroe - so a lot is to be taken with a grain of salt. 

However, It was reflective and provided an incredible insight on femininity. Especially, what it's like to be a woman who is sought after, never taken seriously, and increasingly objectified, no matter how hard she tries to love and be loved. I felt several moments of sadness and empathy. As a woman, a lot of the content made me feel seen. 

This book emphasizes a duality of women. How we see ourselves, how we long to know ourselves, how we long to share ourselves with others; and the juxtaposition of how we are perceived by others, especially men. Over and over again in this book, we see Norma Jean/Marilyn Monroe treated much better by women than men. Additionally, how she internalizes the horrific things that are said and done to her, and how they crop up throughout her life. 

I truly appreciated the introduction by Elaine Showalter. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Miscarriage, Rape, and Abortion

fkshg8465's review against another edition

emotional informative sad medium-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

2.0

The whole time I was reading this book, I kept wondering why I was reading it and why it was written and how or why it was nominated for a Pulitzer. Of course Marilyn Monroe is forever an icon, but if any of what was written here was true, then it was a very sad life she had. That’s all I can say about the book. It wasn’t fun to read or enriching to my life. It was much less than I expected of her, based on her other works.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and War

rtthalia's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Excrement, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and War

mstjohn813's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, and Abortion

amandinesophie's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexual violence, and Abortion

courtneyhollyy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Abortion

Moderate: Child abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Antisemitism, and Pregnancy

maplegrey's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Abortion, and Abandonment

rebeckareads's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

2.0

• Rated 3.86 using the CAWPILE rating system

I'm not sure how i stumbled upon this book, other than I must've read "Joyce Carol Oates" and added it to my TBR. I expected it to be an autobiography, when in reality it's more of a fictional account of Marilyn Monroe's life (or so I assume, as someone who didn't know a great deal about her before reading this book!).
As with most of Joyce Carol Oates' books, her writing is what made me pick it up and I wanted to like it... but I'm not going to lie; I struggled to finish Blonde. Not only is it chunky (clocking in at close to 950 pages), but it's also slow-paced. I usually like slow-paced books, but this was extremely slow. It also did not help that I found most of the characters unlikable. Again, I'm usually all for morally grey or even unlikeable characters but in this case, I also found them somewhat one-dimensional and boring. It just didn't hit home with me, as Oates' books usually do.
One thing that I did like a lot though, was the last 100-or-so pages. The tragedy that had been brewing and building for the whole book finally reached its crescendo. It made my heart ache for Norma Jeane, for myself, for other girls and women out there. I still felt cheated though - did I really just drag myself through 850 pages just to fly through the last 100 pages? I cannot with a good conscience say I liked the book based on the fact that I thoroughly enjoyed less than 11% of it!

Blonde is a very slow-paced read; covering important, very real topics such as misogyny, sexism, addiction, mental illness, even anti-semitism following the Second World War... so if you want an easy-to-read, light-hearted escapism, this is probably not the book for you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Infertility, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Abortion, and Suicide attempt