Reviews with content warning for Body shaming - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

15 reviews

uselesspirateraven's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging funny inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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kate_has_book_thoughts's review

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adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

✨ Reviews are for Readers ✨
Any spoilers are hidden!

I read this book as an audiobook narrated by Roald Dahl.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory functions as a morality tale, but the punishments feel disproportionate to the misdeeds.
As a kid, I saw the silliness in this book, but as an adult it just seems so harsh on the child characters with pretty poor justifications for being so cruel to them.

A kid was so excited about candy that they didn’t follow directions?
Off to the guillotines with them!
That’s just a joke, but here are some actual examples from the book:

The Oompa Loompas sing a song about Ms. Bigelow who chewed gum so much she bit her tongue in two and thus "spent her life shut up in some disgusting sanatorium”.

When singing about Violet, a child who chews gum a lot, they sing, “Dear friends, we surely all agree there’s almost nothing worse to see than some repulsive little bum who’s always chewing chewing gum.” Actually, I don’t agree. lol I don’t think that would even make it in my top 100 worst things to see.

Augustus’ crime is being greedy, which is depicted as him being fat. This means that the song that’s sung chastising him includes lines like, “However long this pig might live, we’re positive he’d never give even the smallest bit of fun or happiness to anyone.”

If you’re an adult considering rereading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for nostalgia, be forewarned that your warm fuzzy feelings from childhood may not survive by the end of the book…

much like the characters in it.

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stindex's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced

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

1.0

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burnourhistory's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

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

3.0

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madmadmaddymad's review

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I liked it as much as chocolate but
Oompa Loompa’s rhyme kind of lazily
And towards the end - their songs become tedious
If you like songs - it might make you crazy

Heartwarming, sort of, we all know the story
Willy Wonka has the ability to make me feel like a child
There’s candy and whimsy and lessons about love and kindness
Thank you Roald Dahl for a book that’s both worthwhile and wild

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