Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

16 reviews

xx_wench's review against another edition

dark emotional funny medium-paced

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

4.75

harrowingly beautiful. this book will haunt you with its mischievous wonder and boyish charm. it is daunting and depressing and curious. i read it in a day, i could not put it down. i ultimately knew the ending, as it is told to you within the first sentence of the book, and yet, i was shocked to read it. 

from the point of view of a conglomerate of boys grown into men, we sit on the sidelines and bear witness to a cul-de-sac tragedy. if you are interested in humorous, bleak, gothic literature, read this!

the negatives i found in this book seem to suit the point of it, which is the fact that we our outsiders looking in, sexualizing these young girls in their distress, romanticizing their downfall, viewing them as depthless objects. we do not know these girls and we never will. 

here is the one and only critique i have under a spoiler:

the overall sexualization of these girls is obviously written with purpose by the author, but it is still a little overwhelming at certain points, and icks me out when i think about the book being written by a 33 year old man. the moment where lux goes to the hospital, and makes note of the doctor "falling in love with a 14 year old girl" is where we breach the line of boyish lack-of-empathy and dive into more malicious behavior. this is my only note on the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Sexual assault

natalie3's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Sexual content, Self harm, Mental illness, Medical content, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death, Confinement, Child death, and Alcohol

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse

Minor: Sexual assault, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, and Racial slurs

allipan's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Sexual assault

woolyj's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Suicide, and Sexual assault

lexigrce's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-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? No

4.0

this book is just so tragic, the irony of telling a whole story encapsulating these girls’ lives when they truly didn’t know them at all. i remember first watching the movie when i was maybe 16 or 17 and writing it off. but when i rewatched it a year ago, despite being even further from the sisters’ ages than i originally was, i actually understood. reading the book somehow feels more real, seeing the story as it is without the added glitz of familiar celebrity faces, a bunch of made up stories constructed so that the boys could feel interesting and connected to the girls, as if they could even for a second understand what it felt like to be them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicide, Child death, Alcohol, Child abuse, Grief, Self harm, Sexism, Body shaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

mgoodrick's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt and Suicide

Moderate: Confinement and Child abuse

Minor: Animal death, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Abortion, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Blood, and Toxic relationship

kelleykamanda's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

Absolutely beautiful. Such a thought provoking, lyrical novel. 

Recommend reading this article after finishing: 
“In Defense of the Unsatisfying Ending: The Virgin Suicides” by Janey Tracey 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Rape, Misogyny, Eating disorder, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, and Emotional abuse

snsdpop's review

challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Stalking, and Sexual assault

jenny_librarian's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.5

This is a book about the patriarchal tendency of dehumanizing women. Which should be enough to tell you why I didn’t like it at all.

The writing itself is good, but that’s about the only redeeming quality to this book. The rest is just men being… well, men. I get what the author wanted to achieve with this, but why it needed to be written in this way is beyond me.

I keep hoping the next “classic” I read is going to be better, and I keep being disappointed because those “classics” were written by allocishet white men in a time women were seen as little more than property.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Grief, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Misogyny, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Eating disorder, Medical content, Mental illness, Alcohol, Confinement, Racism, Rape, Stalking, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

Minor: Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Drug use, Pedophilia, Vomit, Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Homophobia, and Infidelity

beetllebum's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.25

lloooovvvveeee

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Sexual assault