Reviews with content warning for Sexual violence - Play It as It Lays

Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Play It as It Lays by Joan Didion

7 reviews

morenowagain's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark sad tense fast-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

Content Warnings

juicy_juice's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark sad fast-paced

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

4.0

This book is what I believe living a Lana Del Rey song would feel like. With the detached main character reminding me of Catcher in the Rye, this novel is one to stick with you. Didion uses short prose which forces the reader to pick up on what is not being said in the dialogue. While this is not a happy read, it is sure to stick with you if you’ve ever struggled with mental illness or know you’re a bit self-destructive.

Content Warnings

margztgz's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark reflective sad tense medium-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

3.0

I expected to enjoy this novel more than I did but it was an interesting read nonetheless and I finished it very quickly. I felt a lot of empathy towards the main character as a woman essentially lost in so much of her life. Certain scenes were difficult to read but so well written and encapsulating. I thought the language was good at keeping attention yet left me in a bleak mood.

Content Warnings

jcstokes95's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark sad tense fast-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

3.5

CW: sexual assault, domestic violence, abortion

In this book, Joan Didion makes every sexual interaction with a man feel like rape. In fact, I would argue she makes every single interaction with a man feel like rape. At every turn, agency is taken away from Maria- again and again. Don't move when I have sex with you. Don't see your daughter. Have a forced abortion or I will take your child from you. Talk back to me and I will hit you. Have a life and I will film and exploit it. The only point where she seems to identify a women having agency is when she watches a movie scene where she walks away from the camera after being brutally gang raped. (this in opposition to the film of her life where she believe that girl "had no knack for anything".)

This book is fucking bleak. It's almost amazing how fucking depressing it can be in so short a novel. It took me a while to get on it's wavelength. But by a certain point, it was so revolting I felt like I had to keep going. I do feel a lot of it is very foggy. I think this matches the mood, but as a reader I found it difficult at times to understand what had happened. But when I was confused, I mainly just assumed that I could fill in the blanks by generalizing that everyone's behavior had been pretty malignant in what I'd missed.

I don't know if I would recommend this to anyone. I was interested but I'm not sure how I actually feel about it still.

Content Warnings