Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

25 reviews

thesuperawesomesarah's review

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

2.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, and Classism

Moderate: Sexism, Xenophobia, and Vomit

Minor: Pedophilia

divyaaaa's review against another edition

challenging dark informative inspiring reflective tense slow-paced

• 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? It's complicated

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Suicide, Xenophobia, Abortion, Death of parent, and Murder

dexterovna's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

2.5

This book starts as a satirical look at a "utopia" where in women and men have sex regularly, a caste system is thoroughly enforced with subliminal messaging, drug use is regular and encouraged, and to be different is to be a Problem. Everything you would expect a book written in its time to consider bad and evil.

And then it turns into a disjointed novel about an indigenous man wrestling with this supposed utopia hes only heard about and the love of a woman who has fully subscribed to it and a man who was born into this world, critiques it with every fiber of his being, only to in the end cowar at the idea of anything different.

Aside from the all to vasual rascism, both inside the narrative/characters and the author himself, this book is hard to read because it follows no discernable plot atructure. It is interesting for its world building, but it seems to build up all of these Bad Plot Beats to end in just...one Bad Plot Beat. Its obviously trying to say "Hey lets not make the world like this one" but at what cost to my nrrative intrigue?

The chatacters barely change, there is a Ton of monologuing and proselytizing, and the story is just sad. Im sure for its time it was an incredible book, full of new concepts and conversations. But for today, it reads like a much too long high school novel in its first draft. The saving grace is the interesting world building itself and the knowledge that this book is a blueprint for the dystopian genere as we know it today.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Classism

waytoomanybooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

rosenrot's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Vomit, and Medical content

dalek_caan's review against another edition

dark reflective fast-paced

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

3.5

This book was not at all what I expected, but it was worth reading. To me the historical context is particularly interesting, to see what Huxley imagined to warn future generations of what not to become. While the message of the book seemed somewhat unclear to me, I found some of the philosophical elements to be interesting to entertain.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Xenophobia

gbentley's review against another edition

dark reflective 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? It's complicated

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use and Xenophobia

Minor: Sexism and Suicide

teawiththefates's review

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I understand it’s merit from a philosophical perspective but dang this was a miserable book. The three stars is based on my personal experience with it - fascinating in places, provoking deep thought about human nature and the things that shape us; then also upsetting and disturbing, both sides being equally unpleasant and repulsive. So, yeah, this book was a lot. It won’t be a book I revisit, but it will inspire some good conversation at bookclub I imagine.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Drug use, Self harm, Sexism, and Classism

Moderate: Fatphobia, Racism, Suicide, Xenophobia, and War

triniparade's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infertility, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Xenophobia and Colonisation

emjbarnes's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

2.5

Well written prose - not sure what Huxley was trying to argue to be honest. I thought the colonialism was an intentional comment on the same to begin with, but I guess not.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Xenophobia, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction and Sexual harassment