leeyongjin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Torture and Gaslighting
Moderate: Physical abuse, Eating disorder, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Classism, Colonisation, and War
Minor: Death and Body shaming
sp0okysandwich's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Police brutality, Classism, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Murder, War, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Death, Cursing, Confinement, and Sexual content
zams'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? No
2.0
Julia and Winston's "relationship" weirded me out quite a bit. I think it came out of nowhere and was never really explained, and I'm a bit uncomfortable with the age gap to be honest, allthough it is definitly not to be depicted as the same as it would be in our current world compared to their day-to-day life.
And again, if I didn't have it read to me for hours on end while getting work done I would have not made it through because it was just so boring.
On a different note, the message about capitalism and authoritarianism were absolutely amazing. On top of that, the plot twist in the end absolutely shattered me. This is definitly an insanely important book in my opinion, and just from that view point it would immediatly be a 5 star read, and I'm sure I missed a lot of important remarks in all of the layers of this work. It's just the writing style and side plot that makes it not really work for me so well.
Graphic: Torture
Minor: Death of parent, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
vikito_botz's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Torture, Physical abuse, and Death
Moderate: War
Minor: Rape
sugar_fox's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
4.5 stars.
The only possible way to describe 1984, is disturbing.
It’s not from extreme gore or violence, though there certainly is some. It’s from the ideas that this book presents, and the way in which it was executed.
1984 was one of the original dystopias, or at least the one that first gained major worldwide attention (as far as I’ve read), and boy can I understand why.
In my opinion, you don’t read this book for the characters alone- though they are extremely intriguing, so much say I could write an essay on the psyche of Julia and Winston- you read it for it’s frankly quite frightening themes.
In the past, 1984 was seen as a possibility. A possible future for the world to take, one ruled under an iron fist, when even thinking your own thoughts become impossible. While this is a far cry from the world that we live in today, it is interesting to compare the two worlds, and see the path that the world could’ve- and could (unlikely) still- take.
The only reason this book misses out on the extra 0.5 stars, is because of the characters. When I read this book, as I stated previously, I didn’t read it for the characters, and perhaps upon a re-read that will change. I will stop becoming fixated on the world that 1984 presents and will focus enough on the characters. And while I still did care for them, I just felt like something was missing, it may even be, that in comparison to the unique masterpiece of world building that 1984 presents there was no way for the characters to compare.
If this rant somehow hasn’t convinced you to go ahead and buy or borrow 1984, this is your reminder:
Read this book.
Graphic: Gaslighting, Death, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Sexual content
pr1ncessj's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Rape, Murder, Gore, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
ferdie's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Classism, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Torture, and War
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Death of parent, and Grief
gnathan's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Moderate: Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Death, Gaslighting, Gore, War, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Homophobia and Racial slurs
iwishihadmoretimetoread'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
4.0
Graphic: Classism, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Vomit, War, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture
Minor: Antisemitism
robinie142's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Torture, and Violence