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kaceyjoy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Classism
Minor: Incest
ewwa18's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Classism
hollywatson's review against another edition
- 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
2.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
stockenheim's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Cannibalism
hannahbisbis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Incest, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, and Murder
mairu's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Moderate: Animal death and Excrement
alexhaydon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Ballard does a great job of making the High Rise seem both labyrinthine and vast, while also suffocating and claustrophobic. The wonders of the Tower's facilities quickly descend into settings for gore and great misfortune. The tension Ballard builds is so tangible and visceral I was feeling the need to look over my own shoulder! A lot of reviews rightly draw comparison between High Rise and Lord of The Flies, and it definitely resembles the old classic, but dare I say its modern tower block stage made its subconscious commentary on the regression of civilisation and society much more poignant. At the end of my copy there is a brief interview with Ballard and he explains how due to his previous life experiences, he is very much aware that our everyday lives and human comforts can be 'dismantled overnight'.
My only qualms with this novel were its female characters...I would have enjoyed a female perspective, rather than seeing them largely as victims and servants. Perhaps this is a commentary in its own way but it did get tedious. Lastly, it got a bit repetitive at times, towards the halfway and 2/3 mark it seemed to need to find its footing again but this didn't grate on me too much.
Overall I'm excited to hear of other people's experience with this novel and look forward to reading more Ballard...just hopefully with a more diverse cast list.
Graphic: Confinement, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
emmacb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It feels like the sort of book where the author is reeeeeally trying to say something and either it's going over my head or i just straight up disagree.
Or both.
The book feels like a comment on humanity in a similar way to lord of the flies where it's not so much a comment on actual human behaviour as the author's cynical idea of human behaviour that maybe says more about them than it does about humans! Also I had some thoughts on the depiction of women - it wasn't great. OK bad... to a degree that had me wondering if this was all a meta-commentary on people's depiction of humans in literature because surely noone thinks that's actually how women (or men tbh) would behave in the scenarios described in the book.
Graphic: Violence and Alcohol
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Homophobia, Incest, Rape, and Sexual violence
juliston's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Rape and Violence
drhoagie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Rape, Violence, and Cannibalism