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moonbeam4'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? No
4.0
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Minor: Fatphobia, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
katilh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Fatphobia
Minor: Suicide, Death of parent, and Murder
grets_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Bullying and Child abuse
Moderate: Physical abuse
Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Death of parent
kcarney86'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
3.0
Graphic: Bullying and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Child abuse, Fatphobia, and Physical abuse
Minor: Car accident and Death of parent
unusuallyy'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
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Fatphobia
Minor: Death, Suicide, Torture, Death of parent, and Murder
racheldida's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Graphic: Fatphobia
Moderate: Fatphobia
inkdrinkers'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? No
1.0
Oof. We all collectively owe Danny DeVito a huge thank you for all the changes made from this book to the classic movie adaption. In no short amount, this book heaps on the classism, fatphobia, abuse, and weird guardian/child relationship that the move carefully reimagines or entirely does away with. I feel like I'll never pick up another Roald Dahl book after listening to this one because I know everything I need to about the author after listening to this.
A lot of other reviews went into aspects of these issues, but I just want to say the overarching message I got from this book was that "just keep going forward, it'll work out!" which is definitely not the case for reality. Right now, I'm not sure that's a great message for kids who read this and have their own backgrounds in abusive situations or poverty. I enjoyed aspects of it, and aspects are funny in a lighthearted way, but as an adult reading it, I can't help but have the entire experience clouded by the sheer amount of bias the author threw in. Every villain is fat, ugly, and horrific - one of the bullies at the school has a wart on her nose and is incredibly Jewish-coded - and overall it screams of bias that has unfortunately been present in fairy tales for centuries. It just left a bad taste in my mouth.
I really won't be returning to this, and I kind of wish I hadn't listened to it because it's ruined some of the magic of the movie for me. One star goes to Kate Winslet though, who did an incredible job voice-acting and overall giving this story enough life for me to get through it.
Content warnings: Child abuse (throughout), Emotional abuse, Bullying, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Suicide, Death of parent (in past), fatphobia, classism
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Classism
Minor: Suicide and Death of parent
spineofthesaurus's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Torture, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
Minor: Body horror, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
charliebella's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
Moderate: Suicide and Classism
sassmistress'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? No
4.5
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Violence, and Abandonment
Minor: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicide, and Death of parent