Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Bluebeard's Castle by Anna Biller

4 reviews

s_armstrong's review

dark sad tense slow-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? Yes

1.25

good god what was that

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

kiwisnyds's review

While I liked Biller's The Love Witch, this novel is not very well written or edited. While reading I felt as if Biller was attempting to use her amazing skill with visual media, but in novel form it fell flat and just made me feel like it badly needed another round of edits to pare it down. The simplistic and unbelievable dialogue, while in her movies lends to a sense of unease, just did not translate well to the written format. I wanted to love this novel. The presentation of it is stunning. But the disconnect between the main character's supposed knowledge of abuse and how she reacted to it in real life was just so unbelievable. The manipulation of the abuser wa so surface-level and obvious that it makes me wonder how the protagonist couldn't see through it. This novel could have been a great commentary on the insidiousness of abusers and how easy it is to become entrapped, which I feel the author was attempting, but it was done poorly enough that it seemed like a parody of those themes. The novel also didn't actually feel gothic or horror to me. You can describe an old mansion and nightgowns for 12 pages but doing so does not make the work actually gothic. Maybe I'm being harsh, but I just wanted to skim until the end, so instead I put it down. I hope someone else will love and appreciate it. All that said, if Biller decides to write another novel I still might check it out. It can be really hard to get a debut right, and like I said the pieces were there but just didn't quite make it to the final work.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Gaslighting

lateromantic's review

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

A slow start - if you're a fan of Biller's films you'll like it, the prose has that same stilted, photographic quality as her scripts, and she drops in many references and aesthetic tidbits. I wouldn't call it feminist so much as female-gaze - there is rage but no righteousness.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

bones_the_baker's review

dark emotional 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, and Blood