Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

They by Kay Dick

9 reviews

mar's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.0

"a sequence of unease" fuck dude it sure is. meandering yet precise, written in short, clipped sentences, this novella manages to induce a feeling of dread like very few other works i've read

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Fire/Fire injury

braggsy's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

caitlin_123a's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

meremeth's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad fast-paced

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

5.0

It's incredible how queer a book can be without explicitly mentioning the queerness of characters. Queerness isn't a theme here, it's a framework.
So many beautiful passages that made me wish I read a physical copy. The forward by Carmen Maria Machado was beautiful and framed it really well. (FABER Editions)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Animal death, Torture, and Murder

megan_bbender's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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? No

2.5

This is a good book for a super quick and easy read. It was a bit disturbing at some parts but nothing goes into detail. To be honest, I never really understood what was going on because the writing is so simple. This concept is super interesting but I feel like there definitely could have been more done, I don't feel anything towards the plot or characters due to the lack of world-building. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Forced institutionalization and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Domestic abuse

allyjshand's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

I loved the premise of this book and was took in by Margaret Atwood’s review. A dystopian novella, similar in concept to 1984, that discussed the suppression of art, love and emotion by an anonymous group. Some of Dick’s short stories had me gripped, particularly the first few. Although after that, the characters lacked distinguished personalities and I lost interest in the story slightly and failed to understand some of the nuances of the plot.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Death, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

bex_knighthunter's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

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

2.25

My favourite part of this book was the introduction by Carmen Maria Machado… Unfortunately, this didn't work for me despite loving horror and dystopian fiction. I really struggled with the writing style, which was incredibly simple, sparse, and matter-of-fact. I struggled to get into any reading flow with this style and it left me feeling distanced from the stories. It also felt like key information was missing, leaving me me confused in many places about what was actually going on. Just in concept this was already going to be hard for me as I have historically struggled with even mosaic novels, and the concept for this was even less tied together - it was created by the author editing a selection of short stories to tie them together. The stories each featured different characters and different but similar settings, but none of the characters stood out to me and I found them easy to mix up. We never get any name or traits for the main character - it seemed likely it was all from the same perspective but I wasn't sure because we get no internal monologue or personality. I was interested in the questions this collection/novella was trying to explore around the suppression of art but I don't feel that I got much on this topic and I was left feeling I had missed the point of a few stories - I would be intrigued to read a literary analysis of this one! There was an unsettling vibe that came through the stories and some chilling small sections (e.g. a woman being told after breaking her ankle that she was being allowed to show pain for 48 hours and her using this to express all her suppressed grief, and a woman who jumps into a pond every morning because she is affected by the memory of being burned alive). I also enjoyed the small moments of absurd darkness amongst the descriptions of mundanity. I was tempted to DNF but got on slightly better when I treated this more as a short story collection and tried to read each story in one sitting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Death

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

spooderman's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Murder

Minor: Suicide attempt and Death of parent

janiswong's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• 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? No

4.5

A dark, dystopian novel that was contemporary for its time centered around the loss of individual artistic autonomy. I enjoyed the lack of context and insight into personal lives. The book was much darker than I expected and I felt tense throughout the short book. Dick's writing is gripping, full of mystery, and leaves the reader to fill in the gaps. The short stories as independent chapters, taken metaphorically, reminded me of how technologies can also have dimming effects, as people may slowly lose their individuality through the wearing down by infinitely scrolling online... A much needed short read that feels fresh, poignant, and relevant, even though written 50 years ago.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Murder