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ayphyx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Mental illness, Death, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Domestic abuse, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Pregnancy, Violence, Murder, Death of parent, Antisemitism, Abandonment, and Child abuse
Minor: Cursing
toffishay's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Child death, Classism, Death, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Suicide, Violence, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Abandonment, and Blood
Minor: Alcohol, Confinement, Grief, Religious bigotry, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, and Racism
ealtshul's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
2.5
Moderate: Antisemitism
julianh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Child death, Suicide, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Antisemitism, Racial slurs, Racism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
cowardlyteaman's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
It's very slow paced, and sometimes you might think to yourself «Okay, but how does this affect the plot.» Fair point, definitely, but to me personally, such scenes meant everything in the parallel situations of these characters and for Dostoyevsky to explore some of his philosophy, which I think he has the right to with such reflections. Also, as my dad so rightfully reminded me, this book was written in a period where people had the time to read. Not meaning that they weren't as busy as we are now, but simply that their attention spans had not been abused such as ours have due to various categories of modern entertainment.
There is no shame in this, but it's important to note that if you're wanting to read this. I, too, found it boring at times, because no, I genuinely could not care less about Father Zosima.
And on the note of characters I couldn't care less about, we have Alyosha. Yes, I see Dostoyevsky praising and loving him, but I found him pretty whiny, actually. He was about as relevant as an emotional support animal, to be quite honest. That is until the epilogue, where I appreciated his part of the whole journey.
My favourite character was Mitya, though Ivan stands as a close second, and I'm not ashamed to admit that it is because I found them sexy. Not only because I found them sexy, but it was undeniably a factor in there somewhere, and I am young and gay, so who can blame me. Still, they were both fantastically written characters, both with depth and interesting plot lines.
Yes, my review has been mostly about the characters and what I thought of them, but they are the plot after all. However, I want to add finally that I noticed how the synopsis of the book leads with the murder of Fyodor Pavlovich, when that doesn't «come up» until a good... 500 pages in? A bit odd, but I suppose that was what brought the entire piece to a conclusion.
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Bullying, Suicide, Child death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Child abuse, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Grief, Abandonment, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Racism, Addiction, Antisemitism, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, and Racial slurs
suneaters's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
In all seriousness, it’s a powerful exploration of family trauma, greed, guilt, and faith with a satirical overtone—don’t let anyone say Dostoevsky was gloomy! He posits important questions to the reader.
Can your daddy issues make your a murderer? Is that really the devil? Can you try to make your family come together before
I liked how it ends without resolving everything.
The religious overtones are also very interesting. Alyosha is considered this pure being, so much so that Rakitin spends basically the entire novel trying to shake his faith whether by poking fun at elder Zosima's decaying corpse or trying to introduce him to Grushenka. Alyosha is clearly the author's thought of what people should be like with his innate goodness and love of mankind. He resolves any doubts he has with his simple faith and his belief in the goodness of mankind. He does good and tries to help bring his family together after. He isn't naive or innocent and while his brother sees suffering as a reason for atheism or a cruel God, Alyosha sees it as a resolve to try to put goodness out into the world.
Ivan is religiously and spiritually conflicted. He oscillates between a belief in a Machiavellian being and atheism. This turmoil from his own cold sophistication and eventual overthinking skepticism eventually leads to
Mitya tries desperately to overcome his own jealous and angry nature to become a better man.
Graphic: Abandonment, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Child abuse and Child death
Minor: Alcoholism, Antisemitism, and Ableism
srstash13's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Minor: Antisemitism and Racial slurs
aislinn_mcd_harrison's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I was sceptical until the chapters “rebellion” and “the grand inquisitor”. From “Mitya” onward I was hooked, but I u der stand somewhat why the parts before were there. I read a review calling this maximalist literature and I definitely think that’s true but it was really an excellent experience and I am so glad I read it. It is my fathers favourite book and I made lots of notes and feel I understand both the book and my dad better in that context
Graphic: Antisemitism, Murder, Suicide, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
pboyreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Antisemitism and Mental illness
madelines_library's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide
Minor: Ableism, Antisemitism, and Rape
This book is great, but there are times in which you may find yourself struggling to get through passages regarding ableism and rape, as well as a section that was pretty antisemitic (and if you're particularly sensitive to the mistreatment of Poles, that is in here too). Also, a couple of major plot points/character development archs center around s*icide and plans around that for the future. Something to keep in mind when beginning the book.