Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath

44 reviews

bennoyb's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Eating disorder, and Sexual content

jamie1717's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, Suicide, Blood, and Sexual content

Moderate: Death

Minor: Racism

carlota_gm's review against another edition

dark emotional funny inspiring reflective fast-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

3.75

 M’estava agradant molt fins que vaig veure com de racista era la versió original (l’he llegit en català), que tenia paraules racistes en anglès que no han sigut traduïdes. Sé que no m’hauria de sorprendre perquè era una dona blanca dels anys 1950-60, però penso que això no és excusa: els anys 1950-60 són els anys del Moviment dels Drets Civils a EUA, les panteres negres, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King… hi havia un moviment antiracista del qual podria haver format part i no ho va fer. Per a mi això va canviar la vibra del llibre 100%. 

Dit això, abans d’adonar-me’n m’estava agradant moltíssim el llibre. Reflexions molt interessants sobre les dones, els homes i el sexisme. A més, la forma com parla de la salut mental és brutal, molt realista i sincera. El millor és la seva manera d’escriure:  l’ús de metàfores, paral•lelismes i prosa fica en evidència la seva naturalesa de poeta, i queda clar per què és una de les millors i més importants poetes del segle passat.

((també dir que hi ha un parell o així de comentaris i frases ✨homòfobes✨ però mira aquí encara et puc comprar que no hi havia moviment queer els anys 1950s, però esq els comentaris racistes enmig del moviment dels drets civils…… em pica))

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Suicide, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Self harm, and Sexual assault

isabelsb's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Blood, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Suicide and Vomit

hallenoelle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.0

I have always been deeply interested in the idea of the “mad woman” and how has society treats women with mental illnesses throughout history. The Bell Jar is a raw, disturbing, and realistic depiction of what so many women went through and why. The turn from the fun and youthful vibe at the beginning to the gut-wrenching plot twist had me captivated. I could not give this book 5 stars, however, because of the incomplete romance(ish) with Buddy Willard and because of how problematic this book is today. Not really a spoiler but warning anyway for the next sentence!

Spoiler

I hate when a character hates another character and we never find out why and that is exactly the case with Buddy and Esther

. This book has countless moments of racism that really took me out of the story and made me super uncomfortable. And lastly, please do not read this book unless you are POSITIVE you can handle it. It is full of triggers for those who have struggled with mental illness, grief, SA, EDs, and suicidal thoughts. Please read with caution - but if you are interested in women’s history and feminist literature I would recommend!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical trauma, Rape, Grief, Confinement, Eating disorder, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Racism, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Sexual violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/injury detail, and Sexism

risisreading's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Mental illness, Racism, Racial slurs, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Drug abuse, Death, Drug use, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

megbriers's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

3.5

 pretty descriptive language and mental health issues with a sprinkle of homophobia and racism. make sure to check tws before starting.

 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Drug abuse, Racism, Homophobia, and Vomit

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

i really wanted to love this. however, some parts of the book felt unnecessary to the story and Esther was just not a good person which made this so unenjoyable for me. despite her mental illness there was no reason for her to be so incredibly nasty to everyone around her. and her character targeting and physically abusing the only person of color and calling them slurs… for what? there was absolutely no reason for all of her rude actions especially considering how privileged she was. it did adequately portray the mental unraveling of a women in her early adulthood but it outshined by how awful her character was in my opinion. i was so disappointed :((( 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Cursing, Alcohol, Classism, Death, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Blood, Drug abuse, Dysphoria, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

mattmanningg's review against another edition

• 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

5.0

Such a beautifully written book, very disturbing (like very very in my opinion) but also sort of hopeful

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Mental illness

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Misogyny, Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, Injury/injury detail, and Grief

saradanese's review against another edition

dark 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Sexual content and Medical content

Minor: Racism and Panic attacks/disorders