cowardlyteaman's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Winston would randomly get this urge to either rape or kill people who did nothing else but exist in his presence. It was tiring, not thought-provoking. I liked him much better in part three of the book, though! Ironically enough, maybe, but his whole character during part one and two was being a pig. That was completely out of focus during part three! Splendid.
Julia should have been removed entirely. I didn't like her in the beginning, and I didn't like her at the end. Her whole character was having sex and saying foul things. If you try too hard to make a character who's supposed to be controversial and rebellious, you end up with a character I only want to die in a pit.
O'Brien.🫶 He saved the book, to be honest. I genuinely believe that this book would have been 5 stars for me if Orwell had removed Julia and spent more time building on Winston and O'Brien's relationship instead.
All in all, I do believe that this book was worth it. I read it for history, and during the first half, I thought of this book as complete and utter bullshit. But at least I came to like it—really like it towards the end.
Graphic: Body horror, Classism, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Antisemitism, Racism, Body horror, Child death, Abandonment, Xenophobia, Fatphobia, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, and Rape
helenaruby'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Gaslighting, Misogyny, Police brutality, Torture, Drug abuse, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual content, War, and Racism
accidentallyinlovefromshrek2'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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Classism, Violence, and War
Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Police brutality, Body horror, Murder, and Drug use
Minor: Racism, Rape, Xenophobia, and Sexism
laughingkatana'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
2.0
Graphic: Confinement, War, Torture, Violence, Alcoholism, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Classism, Colonisation, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Murder
elaa0907's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
Graphic: War and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Drug use, Violence, and Sexism
Minor: Rape
You will find The first part incredibly boring, the second and third part however are fast paced and interesting with a lot of plot twistssunshinesyst3m's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I’ve much enjoyed listening to this book and it made me think a lot about what the government in this book and the government for the country I live in have in common (a decent amount it seems, which isn’t a good look haha). The ending wasn’t exactly what I had hoped for but the book is meant to be realistic, so I do suppose the ending does make sense.Â
Graphic: War, Body horror, and Torture
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Lesbophobia, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Homophobia, Genocide, Racism, Antisemitism, Infertility, and Rape
Minor: Drug use
mdugas'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? It's complicated
3.25
Spoiler
The psychological torture may have been realistic for the scenario but it was too graphic for me.Graphic: Classism, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, and Torture
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Drug use, Deportation, Abandonment, Ableism, and Misogyny
This book may be triggering if you struggle with trauma relating to privacy, paranoia, and sexual assault, among other things.jenna_justi2004's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Genocide, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Body horror, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Hate crime, Infertility, Misogyny, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Death, Drug use, Gore, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, Grief, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, and War
dead2books's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Classism, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Racism, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Confinement, and Body horror
Moderate: War, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol
Minor: Police brutality, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Confinement, Body horror, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Death, Racism, Slavery, Sexism, Sexual violence, Classism, Misogyny, War, Violence, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Murder, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Racial slurs, Rape, Emotional abuse, and Forced institutionalization
manu_k's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
On the writing style: I thought it was very beautifully written, descriptive but not very much so, the exact kind of thing I like. The way it was written and the analogies and the non - linear storytelling in some parts came together so well, it was immersive in the best way.
On the story:
Spoiler
the first part was almost boring, which I thought was the point. It showed us how the regime worked, some background to Winston, but didn't actually contribute to advancing the story line as such. The second part was much more fast paced and actually exciting in regards to the advancement of the story, and by far some of the chapters in this part are my favorites. I didn't appreciate the whole 'I love you' debacle in the beginning, but I guess it shows how much sexually and emotionally repressed these people are. I believe it seems very fitting that Julia is introduced as a central character at the start of the second part and her role ends at the end of the second part. The third part was one of the most difficult parts to get through, despite me having experience with reading torture scenes (I read The Surgeon when I was 15, it still haunts me). It was brutal no holds barred kind of writing, with the descriptions, O'Brien's almost - almost - loving teacher like treatment of Winston, and then the change in the way of Winston's thinking, how different it was from the other two parts. The ending was surprising to me, despite knowing that it won't end happily as other dystopian books I have read.Graphic: Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Violence, Sexism, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Classism, Cursing, War, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Gun violence, Gore, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Alcoholism, Slavery, Sexual violence, Rape, and Vomit