Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Anne Collins

49 reviews

theirgracegrace's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

3.75

A literary classic, Gatsby centres around the party host and smuggler Jay Gatsby. A man of "new wealth" in the rich part of Long Island, he secretly harbours a deep love for the wife of a nearby family, whom he has known for years. As the narrator Nick Carraway learns more about the enigmatic Gatsby, the more events begin to conspire to topple the self-made man from his throne.

I first read this book in English class in high school but did not remember a single part of it. I enjoyed re-reading it now and remembering all of the symbolism, the plot, the characterization of both Gatsby and Nick. I would not recommend it if you struggle with purple prose, as Fitzgerald can get flowery with descriptions or use some (now) obscure term for seemingly no reason. The plot is fairly straightforward and predictable, and because of the third-person narration it is hard to understand Gatsby's motivations. An enjoyable read nonetheless!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Alcohol, Violence, Gun violence, Infidelity, Car accident, Physical abuse, Blood, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Death, Racial slurs, Addiction, Classism, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Antisemitism

Minor: Colonisation, Cursing, and Genocide

cbear_13's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

This has been by far my favorite school book in sophomore year. I was entertained they had interesting characters I just enjoyed it especially because I like us history so yah loved it 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Alcohol, Death, and Infidelity

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Classism, and Infidelity

Minor: Suicide and Physical abuse

jenmaysiereads's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• 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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Racism, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Gun violence, Death, Murder, and Suicide

Moderate: Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Racism, Racial slurs, Mental illness, Eating disorder, Antisemitism, and Alcohol

wheatlyre's review against another edition

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

I will preface my review with the fact I read The Great Gatsby in a classroom setting, with a chapter-per-week pacing, as it was for an English assignment, and very little out of class reading; which I feel should be noted, as the way I interacted with and read the book was slightly different than how I would in a recreational/normal environment.
I liked The Great Gatsby quite a bit, and while I found my feelings for most of the characters to be on a spectrum of apathy to (just barely not) hatred as people, they are interesting characters, and you could find a lot of depth through speculation over them. There are a few lines and descriptions that I found quite revealing regarding the underlying feelings and motivations of some of the characters, especially

Daisy Buchanan, Jay Gatsby (aka James Gatz), and Tom Buchanan

, but that you might normally ignore or look past.
While I did enjoy it, there were some areas that felt slightly dull or dragged out, to the point I felt I had to skip though a bit my first read through, then re-read after finishing the chapter for additional context in the later scenes.
Nick Carroway, the narrator, skips through the summer while telling the story. He keeps the timeline linear, so it could feel a bit off-putting in the moment when he would mention seemingly random events between parties and dinners with acquaintances, but the events do all have actual meaning for being there, biggest reason being to build characterization and foreshadow future reveals or events. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Physical abuse, Murder, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Classism, and Car accident

Moderate: Sexism, Bullying, Misogyny, Drug use, Mental illness, and Racism

Minor: Antisemitism and Bullying

magnolia_berry's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny reflective

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Gun violence, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Car accident, Death, Classism, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Racism, Murder, Sexism, Antisemitism, Xenophobia, Violence, Alcoholism, and Emotional abuse

k_shimer's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Classism, Car accident, Murder, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gun violence, Infidelity, Racism, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide, Misogyny, Sexism, Antisemitism, Grief, and Racial slurs

Minor: Confinement and War

jobaji's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Gun violence, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Murder, Death, Car accident, and Grief

Moderate: Suicide and Racism

Minor: War and Cursing

abi_04's review against another edition

slow-paced

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Car accident, Classism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Toxic friendship, Murder, Physical abuse, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Sexual content

rachelmcg2004's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• 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

4.5

Half a star taken away from this masterpiece for the jarring and horrible racial slurs and sexism that cropped up on occasion. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Classism, Car accident, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Sexism, Misogyny, Violence, Racism, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Racial slurs, Misogyny, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, and Racism

Minor: Sexism, Misogyny, Mental illness, Classism, Violence, Cursing, and War

caribbeangirlreading's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

2.0

2023:  Re-read this book for my Classics Book Club. As always, we had a spirited discussion as to the themes of the book. However, I still did not enjoy reading it and I still hate all the characters - Gatsby is a con-man. Daisy is NOT a victim. Tom is still a horrible human being. Gatsby and Daisy's relationship is toxic AF. Daisy and Tom deserve each other and all their unhappiness. And Nick . . . This time around I really noticed something that I had forgotten from my first read, that Nick is our narrator, and he's a very unreliable one. He "thinks" he's above the superficial and vapid lifestyle of the rich and famous of East/West Egg, but he's in fact just like them. He just doesn't have the money.

2013:  Intellectually, I can see why this book has remained a classic.  It is a scathing social commentary on life in the 1920s, and maybe even specifically of upper class society in the northeast US.  But emotionally, I despised Gatsby, and Tom, and Daisy, and Jordan and many of the other secondary characters so much that reading this book was more torture than pleasure.  I had to force myself to finish this book (over 2.5 weeks!) just so I could say I have read it.  And then F. Scott Fitzgerald's book will join the ranks of the classic American novels that I despise, i.e., every book ever written by his friend and contemporary, Ernest Hemingway.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Toxic relationship, Classism, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Physical abuse

Minor: Gun violence and Racism