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paguroidea'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
3.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, and Stalking
Moderate: Fatphobia and Sexual content
Minor: Slavery and Kidnapping
eachz'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
1.0
I'm pretty sure the author has a humiliation fetish and I say this both because of the EXTREMELY nauseating way every unnecessary sexual encounter was described AND the fact that he put his name on this book.
The whole thing was extremely 12-year-old-who-thinks-hes-deep. Imagine taking a really interesting, nuanced topic like internet privacy and then writing a one-note book with the most BASIC take and no grey area. So much of the time was spent explaining the new tech being developed in this hypothetical era -- which has, by the way, wildly inconsistent levels of ability, which is a pet peeve of mine -- and zero time bringing any dimension or sign of life to the cast of boring, unlikeable, flat characters. No one's motivations remotely make sense, and no one seems to have any thoughts or conversations that aren't a ham-fisted monologue on one end or the other of the ideological spectrum.
For a while I wondered if I was just bothered because it was written 11 years ago and hasn't aged well in terms of the conversation around tech and privacy. But no, I've read plenty of outdated science fiction that was still extremely enjoyable. This was just a terrible book.
Graphic: Fatphobia, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Kidnapping, and Car accident
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, and Alcohol
Minor: Misogyny, Slavery, Police brutality, and Colonisation
asafekindofhigh's review
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Car accident, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
phantomgecko's review
- 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
4.0
But the 4 star rating isn't a mistake. Eggers had a message and related it perfectly.
Science fiction is a critique of the present. The Circle uses hyperbole but like just barely. The real possibility of this particular dystopia is chilling and sooooo frustrating.
Mae is the perfect protagonist. I didn't agree with a single one of her choices. Everything she chose was wrong or stupid. Her thought processes were believable, though, so it unfortunately all made sense. To have a character that swallowed all the propaganda (and helped create it) as the main character made the message that much more effective. More effective than just having the "bad guys" do all the bad things.
Honestly, I could write a really in depth literary analysis of this novel, but I don't have the time, and doing so would be too depressing/aggravating. And also patronizing, I think. I was originally going to point out specific things that happen in the book and how insidious they are, but...as a reader I trust you to see it.
It's not subtle.
Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Fatphobia, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Classism
melissa_m_m's review
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death
missjeann'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
4.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Suicide and Violence
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, and Classism
ashm9's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Moderate: Sexual content, Suicide, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Forced institutionalization
greatexpectations77'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
1.25
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Death, Fatphobia, and Sexual content
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, and Alcohol
Minor: Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, and Murder
If you enjoy books where you like to root for the main character, pass.iridaceae's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Sexual content, and Alcohol
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Fatphobia, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Stalking, Murder, and War
Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
morganperks's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Chronic illness, Death, Sexual content, Suicide, and Medical content
Minor: Child death and Kidnapping