Reviews with content warning for Suicide - A Campânula de Vidro

What was once a 5 star read for me has dropped to a 3.75 for me.

I have various reasons as to why it has dropped so low, but a personal reason has been the improvement of my mental health. I realized this book was only so good to me because of the mental state I was in. I related to Esther in so many ways, which allowed for this book to resonate with me deeply. That, at the time, made it an automatic 5 star for me, along with Plath's vivid imagery and cascading language.

What's funny is the same things that turned me off from this book were the things that put me on to this book. The

suicidal ideation as well as the actual attempt

were WAY too vivid for me. Esther's self-image and depression is widely and deeply felt in The Bell Jar. You have to decide if this is something you want to indulge in or not. Just be warned for its deeply triggering content.

It's simply not "entertaining" to me anymore. It doesn't speak to me as it once did, so listening to this in its bare bones was captivating at times, boring at times, tedious at times, but just downright depressing the whole time. I knew this wasn't the happiest book ever written, but Goddamn.

Not to mention, the racial elements threw me off SO bad reading this book the second time around.

Content Warnings

samcsmith's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
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

Content Warnings

jdrosario_'s review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

amazing book, spectacularly crafted. absolutely love sylvia plath, totally tragic though. i was also expecting

her to kill herself at the end but she didn’t?!?!?

that was surprising. it actually felt a little bit unofficial that she didn’t but no complaints. i felt so connected to esther throughout it, you really see and feel what she’s feeling. highly recommend :))

Content Warnings

renreads2much's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

3.0

I’m not going to say much since my copy of the book is annotated, but I don’t know. The book wasn’t as good or satisfying as I thought/expected it to be. But I have a feeling that this is going to be another My Year Of Rest And Relaxation situation where I’ll like it the more I read it.

Content Warnings

magdalenahai's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

Nuoren naisen masennuskertomus. Luin tämän jonkinlaisena klassikkohaasteena, koska en ollut aiemmin lukenut mitään Sylvia Plathilta. Synkkä ja kaunistelematon kertomus, jossa ollaan pitkälti itsetuhoisen päähenkilön pään sisällä. Se, että tiesi kirjailijan tehneen lopulta itsemurhan, toi kirjan lukemiseen lisäkerroksen, joka jollain tavalla myös vaikeutti tarinan lukemista puhtaasti tekstinä.

Content Warnings