Reviews tagging 'Lesbophobia'

A Campânula de Vidro by Sylvia Plath

89 reviews

stilestastic's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Medical content, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Classism

pexadillo's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt

Moderate: Racism, Medical trauma, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Vomit and Lesbophobia

gvstyris's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

4.0

To the person in the bell jar, blank and stopped as a dead baby, the world itself is the bad dream.

As perhaps one of the most iconic romans à clef of all time, and certainly of the last century, Esther Greenwood's trajectory in The Bell Jar is impossible to detach from Plath herself. This novel is most successful as a devastatingly blunt chronicle of depression, falling somewhat short in its wider social commentary.

Plath depicts Esther's loss of control throughout this novel, and her increasingly fragmented narrative structure and strong imagery were my personal highlights. I was impressed by how accessible The Bell Jar is, with much of Esther's feelings echoing my own experiences as a 21st century reader. Since publication, Plath's symbols of mental health (figs, the bell jar itself) have become iconic, and for good reason. She tackles Esther's depression with both sensitivity and honesty -- which is admirable for a novel written over 50 years ago.

I feel more iffy about the feminist commentary here. While Esther makes some astute observations regarding the undervaluation of female labour and pleasure, her perspective on feminism undeniably centers white middle-class women. This would be less of a problem if Esther didn't pause repeatedly to make unnecessary racist (and a few homophobic) remarks about the few people of colour she comes across. While I have no doubt that many people defend Plath by arguing that The Bell Jar is a product of its time, I think it's important to remember that this novel was written amidst the Civil Rights Movement. I've definitely come away from this reading with a more critical view of Sylvia Plath, and have a lot of research to do.

I'm ultimately glad to have read this one, and respect all Plath has done to improve mainstream understanding of mental health. Definitely not a light-hearted book, though, and is potentially quite triggering for anyone currently grappling with depression.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Death, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Pregnancy

Minor: Homophobia and Lesbophobia

allydoessomereading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

5.0

I think Sylvia plath knows my life exactly. I don't think I've ever read my own thoughts and feelings be explained so beautifully and precisely like Plath does. Her writing is so vibrant and poetic, even when she is discussing some very heavy topics. Its amazing that she was able to discuss the female experience so ruthlessly in the time that she did. Its insane that this book from years ago is the first ive read with passages that have made me feel so seen and understood in a way i havent felt before. I think this book found me at both the best and worst time, either way I know it's stuck with me for life. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual harassment

Minor: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Homophobia, Xenophobia, Blood, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

jellygenie's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-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

3.0

Writing was great, too sad, little character development and unlikeable MC, borderline racist comments, depressing and open-ended. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Fatphobia, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

jessicadavies's review against another edition

reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Fatphobia, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Lesbophobia

sapphicsav's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.75

The Bell Jar’s stomach-turning, exacting prose and descriptions of the depths and cyclical nature of mental illness are unparalleled. I was struck by Esther’s body horror around pregnancy, womanhood, and fatness, but most of all by the eerie sense that the treatment she receives and feelings she describes do not feel like artifacts of the past in a world that has barely updated its understanding of mental illness since the 1950s. This is a different kind of coming of age story. It accurately details the uncertain and enduring nature of life with depression, and leaves Esther, so aptly, facing life itself.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, and Toxic friendship

sashabaker177's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This book lulls you into a false sense of security. Esther initially seems sardonic, judgemental and disconnected as she spends the summer in New York, but her thoughts become increasingly dark and her narration appears ever less reliable. The final act is a terrifying and viscerally detailed portrayal of mid-century mental healthcare. Knowing the author's fate the ending feels ominous rather than hopeful. My only criticism of the book would be that at times the character expresses racist and homophobic sentiments, which later on in the book feel integrated with her break with reality, but earlier on at times feel like the author's prejudices seeping through. To be expected with a book this old, but nonetheless a little jarring.

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Death, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, and Medical trauma

Minor: Chronic illness, Gore, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Grief, and Lesbophobia

haileyeh'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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Fatphobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Vomit, Medical content, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

panache's review against another edition

dark emotional funny inspiring sad medium-paced

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

5.0

fucking excellent

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail