Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

59 reviews

divergent159's review against another edition

challenging informative mysterious slow-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Self harm, and Suicide

blynn817's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

1.0

Hated it.
This was suggested as a follow up to 1984 and it's just...not the same.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Racism, Self harm, and Death of parent

Minor: Suicide

kokoberry's review against another edition

dark reflective 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Fatphobia, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Abortion, and War

cursed_sapphire's review against another edition

challenging dark informative tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

The world and concepts are fascinating. If you can look past some of the dated ideas, you'll see a surprising amount of our world here. Huxley predicted some parts of our society too well. 

The characters are interesting but not likeable, I recommend knowing that going in. This book is an exploration of a potential future built on consumption, sameness, and constant pleasure. The characters are meant to embody different parts of humanity/society. Bernard is only content if he's more special than everyone else, Lenina wants more monogomy than is normal but otherwise accepts everything, Helmholtz is just kinda bored and wants to be a tortured poet, etc. John is supposed to be the last real person, representing a true believer in religion and art which cannot survive in this society. Mind you, John is a very 1930's Christian ideal of a true, good person. And while his obsession with suffering for his sins serves as a counter to the painless society of the book, it came across a bit overzealous for me. It felt like Huxley was trying to make John suffer all the pain everyone else never had to, but that made him feel a little too obsessed with pain instead of the virtues he claims to care about. The same could also be said about his obsession with chastity. 

This is a book more focused on ideas than on characters. The plot is a bit sparse, but that leads to a slice-of-life feeling, where the day-to-day life is the focus. There's a certain horror in the mundaneness that the characters experience, and that brings out the themes in a different, but still very effective way. 

Overall I recommend this for anyone who likes the philosophical side of sci-fi/dystopia, as long as they are able to handle the old-fashioned lense.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Suicide

Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, and Sexual harassment

honkinggoose's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Suicide

Moderate: Body shaming and Classism

Minor: Gaslighting

theveleveteenrabbit08's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Seriously the best book I've ever read. Changed the way that I think about the modern world's luxuries and government. The world building is absolutely excellent and realistic, yet subtly terrifying at the same time. Characters' interactions aid this world building perfectly, immersing us in the minds and society of this 'brave new world'. If you are even the slightest bit interested in this book, READ IT! You won't regret your choice.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Self harm, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Infertility, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Vomit and Pregnancy

triniparade's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infertility, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Xenophobia and Colonisation

livimack's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

Firstly, Sally Rooney could definitely write this. Secondly, I can see why some places banned this book. And finally, I severely underestimated this book. The blurb also seriously underestimated it, too. And not gonna lie, I could probably analyse this for weeks and still have material to chat about. Good book. Philosophy in action innit. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use

Minor: Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Grief, and Death of parent

katkatniss's review against another edition

dark funny lighthearted reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

ferlefur's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Moderate: Ableism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, Death of parent, and Classism