Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

A Campânula de Vidro by Sylvia Plath

904 reviews

emabled's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective 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

4.0

sylvia plath has an incredible grasp on imagery and metaphor. like, there were moments some of her similes were so out there and obscure, but the image in my mind was so vivid. esther is a very unreliable narrator, her own distrust projected onto everything she encounters. of course, this era of writing has its insensitive language and general ignorance for minority groups, so i think it's important to be mindful of that. but overall, this book was a great read. it only took me so long because university likes to suck up all my time.

there are parts of esther that reflect the ugly parts inside of a lot of people, those parts we refuse to acknowledge. there is also a false sense of anachronism i place on women from the before the 21st century where i conceive them as entirely sentimentally different from women today. this book proves me wrong. insufferable as esther was at times, her (sometimes) feminist perspectives, particularly on men, was relatable. her rawness of her mental illness was incredibly effective. her humanity was so important. esther depicts the kind of internal monologue that makes me think she externally seems like a man entirely different girl. in that, i see myself, and i'm sure many other readers do too. again, she's horribly rude and intolerable at times, but what an interesting character that makes!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Suicide, and Self harm

Moderate: Blood, Sexual harassment, Gore, and Death

alissamullin's review against another edition

4.0

re-read

wow shocker, reading the bell jar made me feel depressed! 

Obviously a masterpiece. very raw and honest. plenty of beautiful prose, very interesting writing choices and structure, rich and lots of space for thought provoking analysis. relatable passages and well captures a journey with mental illness. 
lots of casual racism. very hard to read the middle part when she’s struggling the most.
 felt pretty myopic to me. but that’s how it be when you’re in that place so

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Mental illness, and Self harm

Moderate: Racism

vonnibel's review against another edition

dark reflective 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

4.5

the fig tree….me too sylvia….

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Self harm, Blood, and Mental illness

melli's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, and Self harm

madeleinem13's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

2.0

tbh this was not worth all the hype. I liked the imagery of the writing and how descriptive it was, but the whole idea of the bell jar wasn’t well-developed. it was incorporated at like the very end of the book. also  the racism in this book made it unenjoyable

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Suicide

zaranolan's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Mental illness

xaveriebaker's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Self harm, and Mental illness

alysian_fields's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Medical trauma, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Sexual content, Racism, and Suicide

avawetherall's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Suicidal thoughts, and Self harm

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual assault, Rape, Suicide, and Mental illness

nick_karr's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Mental illness