Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

La femme rompue by Simone de Beauvoir

15 reviews

zreadz's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity, Misogyny, and Mental illness

Minor: Suicide and Suicidal thoughts

m00dreads's review against another edition

challenging 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

4.25

This was heavy. Female rage and agony ebb and flow throughout the entire collection: it begins with the pensive introspections in The Age of Discretion, surges into the caustic lashings of The Monologue, before culminating into the slow but absolute psychological deterioration in The Woman Destroyed.

Of the three, the first is my favorite and the second would be the least. Not for any reason other than the stylistic, if I’m being honest. It was a struggle to read through The Monologue’s violently amorphous structure—which I know, objectively speaking, is part of the point. The persona’s pain and fury burned like wildfire; it leapt from the pages and spared no one, not even the reader. Depending on personal liking, it can either be a merit or a headache. For me it was both—I understand the literary purpose and think it brilliant, but I also had to pick up a middle-grade fantasy and take a full day’s break just to unscramble my brain after that whirlwind.

The titular story, in my opinion, lacked the sense of satisfaction and closure that the The Age of Discretion had. But then again, also purely a matter of preference. Angry little gremlin that I am wanted blood to be drawn so I was lowkey disappointed when I didn’t get any.

Loved The Age of Discretion from the very first line. Length was perfect and I somehow found myself relating to the persona’s grievances?? (I’m at least 40 years younger; but society to this day hasn’t stopped making women of all ages feel like they’re supposed to be outrunning the clock… I blame late-stage capitalism and all its corollaries).

Individual ratings:
The Age of Discretion: 5⭐
The Monologue: 3.75⭐
The Woman Destroyed: 4⭐ 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity

_rowan_'s review against another edition

emotional informative reflective tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Slavery, Drug use, Death, Eating disorder, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Infidelity, and Grief

williamgideon's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

Ugh this book was so good. Really captivating, really interesting and sad at the same time seeing this woman's whole world unravel and fall apart. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Infidelity

jcapati's review against another edition

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Infidelity

rooney_shay's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This edition included two other short stories as well as “The Woman Destroyed” (TWD, for short). I enjoyed TWD much more than the other two stories, but they all focused around woman dealing with loss in their lives. 

TWD dealt with the main character slowly losing her husband to another woman, but with him goes her sense of self.

 
It was deeply saddening and really hurt my heart. I began to empathize with the main character and only wanted to see her happy. 
<small spoiler>The only reason I’m not giving this a 5/5 is because of the ambiguous ending. I’m not a huge a fan of unresolved conflict, so just a small warning to those of you like me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting

Moderate: Grief, Suicidal thoughts, and Infidelity

Minor: Alcohol, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Eating disorder, Classism, and Drug use

mayabelang4's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

rami_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity

Moderate: Drug abuse and Suicidal thoughts

kavarnistka's review against another edition

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity

Minor: Drug abuse, Alcohol, and Gaslighting

nabila99's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

4.5

my first experience with de Beauvoir was reading the second sex for gender theory class at university. if only i knew she was so talented a fiction writer as well!

this book is absolutely heart-wrenching, so much so that i had to start reading another book in the middle of it, even though i was really enjoying it, because it is so heavy....i've read novels with much darker and sadder subject material, but the way de Beauvoir writes about pain, loss of identity, desperation, resentment, hope, and despair is so visceral i cried multiple times, especially in the last eponymous short story. she captures women's suffering like no other.

i only took off a half star because the writing style in the second short story, the monologue, is so difficult to follow (even though it's genius and i admire the technique and contrast in narrative voices), and some of the side characters could have been more fleshed out. 

cannot wait to read more of de Beauvoir's work!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Grief, Stalking, Drug abuse, Child death, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Alcohol, Misogyny, Death, Mental illness, Gaslighting, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Eating disorder, Suicide, Abandonment, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Blood, Abortion, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Racism, and Sexual content