Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Sérotonine by Michel Houellebecq

7 reviews

stinekristin'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? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Alcohol

Moderate: Pedophilia, Suicide, and Death of parent

Minor: Drug abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Misogyny, Sexism, and Suicidal thoughts

kelbro97's review against another edition

Usually can handle an unlikeable main and some out there subject matter when it has a purpose but this was too gross for me and felt like shock value for shock value's sake so the author can claim he's edgy. DNF ~20%

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Misogyny, Racism, and Sexual content

CW: brief description of bestiality

bourricote's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

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

2.0

The writing is not bad. But the life of the main character is too close to the writer, and it's hard to think that his sexist descriptions are only his and not those of the writer. 
Useless dirty descriptions of sexual interactions that do not add anything to the plot. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Child abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical content, and Suicide attempt

cafezada's review against another edition

dark reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Minor: Death, Drug use, Gun violence, and Death of parent

beriboo's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Cursing, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Death of parent

tommelise's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

2.0

 It seems Houellebecq is just interested in being provocative for provacation sake. I Will  be slightly concerned if someone says they truly enjoy his writing above other writers - he has some good points and passages, and it sure is a quick read but a lot of other great(er) authors make the same points and observations and they do it all while not feeling the need to be blatantly misogynistic, racist etc. It might be a point to make the character unlikable in this sense, but it was just such a big part of the book, and it did not seem the author had any implicit critiques of it that it made me uncomfortable. If you want to read about a depressed man tired of society read Doppler instead. The only reason I give it 2 stars and not one is that there is some good observations and I guess it kind be useful to know that some men really Think like this. It certainly was enlightening and horrifying to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Misogyny, Pedophilia, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol

There is also beastiality But that was not an option in the content warnings.

bibliomanicpanic's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

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

1.5

Underwhelming is an understatement. A sorry attempt at describing the life of a man morbidly depressed, Houellebecq allows much of his prejudices to bleed into his work. Both overtly and implicitly misogynistic, racist and unnecessarily homophobic, the attempt to demonstrate what Labrouste actually feels and how it has affected his life as well as his outlook on it does little by way of making the reader sympathetic to his situation. All the agriculture lingo is tedious at best. At worst, it’s completely irrelevant and only detracts from what little substance the story had in the first place. While I tried my best to remain impartial, the racism and misogyny in the text makes it difficult to focus on any underlying thematic elements and it detracts from the flow and over all body of the text. Not to mention, it takes away from any sort of immersion the reader might achieve. 

Overall, an incredibly disappointing read I hoped I would like but ended up struggling to get through. It quickly became a chore and any enthusiasm there might have been in the first 5 pages was quickly dispelled. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, and Sexual content

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship