Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

308 reviews

drawahardline's review against another edition

dark reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

itsmeimkaty's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical trauma, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Homophobia and Pregnancy

mysafe_place's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

Considering this book is partially based on Plaths own life it would feel wrong to bash this book in any way. Though I have to say that it was less than I expected. The first hundred pages were simply a dull retelling of Esther's daily life and just when we started to get a more profound view into her emotions and current mental state it switched to the most mundane occurrence again. I definitely enjoyed a great part of the book, yet it was not as philosophical (if I may say so) as I expected it to be. Good alliterations and some allusions, but rhetorically placed in a questionable way. Still a good book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, Blood, and Cultural appropriation

natalie_jnm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-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

PLATH’S DESCRIPTIVE PROWESS IS UNMATCHED

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Medical trauma, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Suicide

eva_vva's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Body shaming, Drug use, Infertility, Racial slurs, and Abandonment

nightisareader's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I’ll divide this review into two sections: one that I’m clear on, and the second that confuses the hell out of me.
Section one:
What I absolutely adored about this book is the stream of consciousness writing style. It was neatly tied together and everything found its end nicely. The vocabulary was a bit meh but I guess it works. The book was quite... American? I don’t know honestly, I’m too Asian  for it probably so, reading things like “...he was trying to prove he could be aesthetic...” had me cringe just a little bit. But that’s on me haha. The characters were realistic, the events as well, without any... poetic layer. Yeah, let’s call it that.
Oh and the lovely analogies! I did wish they were explained a bit more but it’s fine, I guess, since the tone of the book was not complimentary to huge descriptions that creep up your body and gently sink themselves into your skin. 

Section two:
Now this part is about Esther herself and do I like her character or not? The answer WAS a big fat no but then she sorta grew on me but I still dislike her. Why? There I’m a bit lost; not completely though. The girl was racist and hateful. My friend pointed out that being hateful is a depression thing which lead to an odd question where even now I’m wondering if her racism and hate is justified by her mental condition but I’m choosing to not ponder over it for too long.

Overall, the book is a tiny bit overhyped but it has its charms.
One thing though, I do not know what kind of readers I would recommend this to because for some it would be triggering, for some unrelatable, and I’m a tiny bit concerned for those who do find it relatable (minus the cracks that let in the light of hope)
What I will say is that if you pick up the book, make sure you learn from her, not the methods to succumb but the methods to survive in the bell jar.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

meilanon's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Medical trauma, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Racism

thequack's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Medical trauma

alishamegan's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.5

Interesting , could do without the racism though

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

another_fine_reader's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, and Suicide attempt