Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

46 reviews

taylormccoy's review

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Alcoholism, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Torture, Cursing, Medical content, Self harm, and Sexual harassment

gh2mi's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

While not my favorite book I've read, the quality of writing and the story are superb. I loved this SO much. It was constantly challenging, equally as funny, and thus is ABSOLUTELY worth reading (except for young children). With such strong characters, still-impactful stances on societal wrongdoings and failures, and especially strong symbols and fascinating biblical allusions, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is just as relevant now as when it released 60 years ago.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Racial slurs, and Sexual content

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, and Gaslighting

Minor: Suicide, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault

bevrocky79's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Suicide

pmurph2112's review

dark emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Suicide

lizardddd's review

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deportation, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Racism, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Medical content, Death of parent, Ableism, Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Confinement, Self harm, and Body horror

sammirobinson's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Medical content, Suicide, Death, Emotional abuse, and Medical trauma

akacasper24's review

emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, and Panic attacks/disorders

asolis's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I'm reading classics this month, and I came to this book as a bit of unfinished business. I think I read about 5 pages in high school and not much more. I remember thinking it was strange. 

 I wonder what I would have gotten out of it if I had read it all the way through back then. But reading it now, its richness was a pleasant surprise, and it is well-deserving of Classic status not just due to age but because of its quality. Now, I appreciate the many layers to this book, and the invitation to consider its themes of race, gender, sexuality, power, and conformity. A remarkable exploration of what it's like to be a kind of person society tries to erase. 

By reading it now, I got to connect with the PNW setting, and understand the implications of the various places mentioned. The Native narrator, albeit written by a white man, brings in some exploration of treaties, land rights, and the generational trauma of displacement. This piece is a great companion read to contextualize that aspect of the book: https://commonplace.online/article/ken-kesey-meets-lewis-and-clark/

Many summaries describe Nurse Ratched as the ultimate villain. And while she is the primary adversary, this ignores the whole point that she is only the local arm of the "combine," the societal machine that enforces conformity and compliance. If Professor Umbridge is the evil middle-aged jailer of our (millenial) generation, Nurse Ratched was her literary ancestor. But where the professor is pure evil and as such wholly unsympathetic, the cracks in the nurse's facade, the pain we know shaped her, makes her human. You may not root for her, but at least you understand her.

I felt pain when she was exposed at the end, the gendered violence, but it fit the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Self harm, Confinement, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Racial slurs, and Death

Moderate: Racism, Sexual violence, Drug use, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Suicide, Cursing, Homophobia, Colonisation, Physical abuse, and Drug abuse

sunflowerhour's review

challenging mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Medical trauma, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, and Medical content

Moderate: Outing, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Physical abuse, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual harassment, Torture, Terminal illness, and Sexual violence

swimfast724's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

Another book I read in high school. I didn't exactly enjoy it, but I didn't dislike it either

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Suicide, Body shaming, Bullying, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, and Suicide attempt