Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Ojo de gato by Margaret Atwood

13 reviews

merissalee's review against another edition

I really enjoyed the first part of the book, but as it moved into an experience of middle school and high school

and started to focus on the tenseness of bullying and self harm thoughts

,  it became too dark for me to enjoy.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

danellsteffen's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Abortion, and Suicide attempt

raesansom's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Murder, and War

yleavy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

2.75

This novel has Atwood’s signature beautiful prose and lovely recurring imagery. Like many of her other books, the protagonist is angry at a lot of things, mostly other women. Probably 250 pages too long. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Blood, and Abortion

Moderate: Ableism, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and War

teh_niarr's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and War

Moderate: Toxic relationship

Minor: Death of parent and Alcohol

gvstyris's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-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

2.5

The world is being run by people my age, men my age, with falling-out hair and health worries, and it frightens me. When the leaders were older than me I could believe in their wisdom, I could believe they had transcended rage and malice and the need to be loved. Now I know better. I look at the faces in newspapers, in magazines, and wonder: what greeds, what furies drive them on?

After trudging through Cat’s Eye and DNFing Oryx and Crake, I think it’s time for me to accept that The Handmaid’s Tale is the exception, not the rule, when it comes to my taste in Atwood's novels. While I picked up on the social commentary hidden amongst Cat’s Eye's depressing tone and unlikeable characters, Elaine’s internalised misogyny (and straight-up cruelty!) rendered this novel pretty insufferable for me. Perhaps I’m just a couple decades too young to appreciate it properly -- I can see where the portrayal of female bullying would’ve been revolutionary in the 1980s. 

My main highlights were Atwood's writing style, as always, and Elaine's relationship with her art. Atwood also portrays childhood both realistically and with sensitivity, which is difficult to pull off. I'm curious about the autobiographical elements of this novel, and will definitely be doing some digging. 

Primarily, though, I've come away with an increased fear of one day being a middle-aged white woman myself...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Self harm, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, and Abortion

Minor: War

lay_kone's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Miscarriage, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and War

dreamofbookspines's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.0

Extremely long winded, in the way Atwood sometimes can be. Horrifying depictions of bullying. Whole book felt like it should have been two or three separate ones, or that there should've been less jumping between past and present.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Self harm and Suicidal thoughts

eg_demps's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Body shaming and Toxic relationship

strong emphasis on gender binary in this book, especially the sections reflecting on her adult life

daria_reading's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm and Sexism

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Sexual content