Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

17 reviews

trombolive's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

kayleelw12's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide, Torture, Medical trauma, and Suicide attempt

hallenoelle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I have always been deeply interested in the idea of the “mad woman” and how has society treats women with mental illnesses throughout history. The Bell Jar is a raw, disturbing, and realistic depiction of what so many women went through and why. The turn from the fun and youthful vibe at the beginning to the gut-wrenching plot twist had me captivated. I could not give this book 5 stars, however, because of the incomplete romance(ish) with Buddy Willard and because of how problematic this book is today. Not really a spoiler but warning anyway for the next sentence!

I hate when a character hates another character and we never find out why and that is exactly the case with Buddy and Esther

. This book has countless moments of racism that really took me out of the story and made me super uncomfortable. And lastly, please do not read this book unless you are POSITIVE you can handle it. It is full of triggers for those who have struggled with mental illness, grief, SA, EDs, and suicidal thoughts. Please read with caution - but if you are interested in women’s history and feminist literature I would recommend!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

fionafrancis's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, and Xenophobia

emwinters's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

_danicortes's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

Es una historia difícil de leer. Tuve que parar en varias ocasiones. Me resulta inimaginable el dolor de Sylvia Plath. Creo que el primer párrafo del texto transmite exactamente lo que será el resto del libro

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Medical trauma, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Infidelity, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Vomit

_inge's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

I had high expectations going into this, but those ultimately fell flat. The Bell Jar is written beautifully, some metaphors especially were really well done. I also understand now how impactful this book must’ve been on release - even now, the descriptions of self-harm and suicide attempts are shocking, and I imagine this character going against men would have been a lot to take in back then too. But the reading experience for me unfortunately wasn’t what I’d hoped it would be. 

There’s a lot of characters who are introduced briefly, and this book keeps shifting back from different segments in the past to the present. Often the protagonist thinks about something else whilst she’s having a conversation with another person, for instance. She’d trail off into her thoughts for a couple pages, and those thoughts then spark new memories so she trails off further. When she does end up back in the present it often takes you by surprise. You only have chapters to go off, no further indications about the story are being given. I often didn’t know if a particular event even mattered in the present either, sometimes a thought seemed more like an interesting anecdote the main character was remembering. 

This is also probably the most racist classic I’ve ever read. A black man speaks English in a caricature way, and his face is described as being like molasses. Every Chinese person in this is yellow. Chapter 10 starts with the main character describing her face as that of a ‘sick Indian’. A woman from Slovakia is a stereotype and only appears for (what is implied to be) sex, and an Italian woman mimics the main character’s mum and can’t be trusted either. Every non American, non white character is a stereotype or seen as less worthy. Obviously this was written in a different time, but that’s something to consider before reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Death, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Eating disorder, Incest, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Vomit, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment