Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

7 reviews

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

ezulc's review against another edition

adventurous tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Death, Blood, and Antisemitism

Minor: Racism, Domestic abuse, Bullying, and Racial slurs

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

carlagh's review against another edition

reflective 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Toxic friendship, and Racial slurs