Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

11 reviews

kerrence30's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

Similar to other books from this time period there is a lack of purpose for many of the characters. The upper and middle classes are basking in their free time, living without cares or responsibility, and life is to be enjoyed. This does leave the story without a real plot, but it is an interesting reflection on life for the privileged and hedonistic during this time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Moderate: Toxic relationship

Minor: Antisemitism and Eating disorder

aj_m's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny informative medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Racism, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Antisemitism, and Racial slurs

Minor: Religious bigotry

katsweirdbookshelf's review against another edition

challenging reflective medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Moderate: Racial slurs, Alcohol, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Death

Minor: War

kananineko's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense 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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Racial slurs, Antisemitism, Alcoholism, Racism, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Death, and War

Minor: Cursing, Violence, Homophobia, and Sexual content

waytoomanybooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad fast-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

4.0

Hemingway's thoughts, feelings, and ideas about the world are deeply flawed, but goddamn do I love the way he writes. The main character, Jake, is so clearly a self-insert that it’s almost laughable. Jake is the only fleshed out character, and we see the world only through his eyes. The man doesn’t even muse over his friends' or frenemies' inner worlds, feelings, life experiences, etc. Jake's travels in France and Spain read like a journal/travelogue. I love his short, sharp prose though. Each word is thoughtfully chosen and executed. The effect is melancholy, wistful, and reflective. You end the book feeling bad for almost all the characters, who have all wrecked their own lives or been wrecked by others or some combination. This is the first novel of Hemingway's that I’ve read, and despite it all, I can see myself picking up more of his work. He's writes a compelling, fascinating read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Racism, Animal death, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Sexism, Racial slurs, Grief, Infidelity, Alcohol, Classism, Infertility, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: War

toffishay's review against another edition

adventurous fast-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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Infidelity

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Racial slurs, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, and Racism

Minor: Gore, Death, Animal death, War, Misogyny, and Xenophobia

renicula's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Misogyny, Alcohol, Racial slurs, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Animal death

Moderate: Sexual content, War, Religious bigotry, Violence, and Addiction

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders

seanml's review against another edition

reflective 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? Yes

4.25

"The Sun Also Rises" defined the Lost Generation, and it certainly feels lost. It's very reminiscent of the very household name The Great Gatsby, published only a year earlier. We follow a group of affluent white folk who live in a world feeling jaded. They hope that each new day will be better, but their freedom brings them to poor conclusions. The characters are put in situations where they don't HAVE to do the right thing, and so each decision is just a little selfish. Usually not grossly so: they're all human, and we would act the same. But these little building disagreements, without distraction, gradually build into conflict. I like our protagonist well enough. I like Bill. I want to like Brett, I want to like Robert, and Mike, and Romero. In the end there's no reason to dislike them either. They're all lost and hurt people, formed by circumstance.
P.S.: There is a single page where the n-word is uttered casually something like 15 times. It doesn't seem malicious, but it's flagrant. Just be aware that if you read this book about problematic people, understand that the author also was a problematic person in a lost world. 8.5/10.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying, Classism, Death, Stalking, Cursing, Antisemitism, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Minor: Infertility, Gaslighting, Gore, Medical trauma, Domestic abuse, War, Violence, and Vomit

bookish_bry's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

• 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

3.5

I'll admit from the beginning that I don't really jive with Hemingway's style. I appreciate it as someone who writes themself, but as a reader, it makes it hard to get into. The entire first part of the book was very slow and the style made it hard to connect to any of the characters. However, later in the book I did start to enjoy it a lot more. While Hemingway doesn't use many metaphors the ones he does (pretty much just bullfighting) are used very effectively. I ended up being able to see the complexity of the characters and their relationship, and I appreciated them by the end.

It was a good representation of the lost generation and that sense of hopelessness and loss of real identity. It's definitely an important read, and I'm sure there are people who would appreciate the style more than I do at times.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Antisemitism, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, and Death

A big part of this book is about watching bullfighting with all of the violence towards animals and all of the danger to humans that implies. Bulls are killed by bullfighters, steers are injured by bulls, and a man is killed by a bull.

shadestate's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Violence, Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, Death, and Bullying

Minor: War and Misogyny