Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

44 reviews

midnacine's review against another edition

As much as I wanted to get through this just to say I actually read a classic in my free time, I just couldn't. I feel like once you're over 50 pages in, a book should be engaging, if not in its plot then at least in its characters or concept. While the concept is really intriguing, as I love dystopian lit, Winston as a main character is about as flat a glass of stale tap water. Add in his blatant hatred for women and it's painfully obvious this book is a product of its time. Maybe that's just a symptom of me trying to read this in 2022, nearly 75 years after it was initially published- God knows I couldn't even get through the first chapter of Lord of the Rings. But at the end of the day I just had no interest in continuing through pages upon pages of lengthy descriptions, intense yet vague world building, and casual sexism. It's just not for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Misogyny, Sexism, Murder, Gaslighting, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, and War

jenna_justi2004's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative sad tense 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

Not gonna lie I want to take my eyeballs out and eat them. This shit was so horrifying I can’t even fathom a world like this. But at the same time I see the similarities on how it is today. Not to that extent but enough. And it’s very scary. I didn’t like the book at all but I get the message and I will never ever be reading anything by this man unless I want to unalive myself. I literally have no happiness currently so. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Classism

tiktakkodiak's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Classism

toodeadtoread's review against another edition

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Gaslighting, and Classism

Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, and Classism

fujo_cat's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Classism

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical content, Stalking, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Child death, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Kidnapping, and Alcohol

f18's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Child death, Fatphobia, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

descriptions of hangings, child labor, tooth trauma,

involuntary shock therapy

liagorash's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Infertility, Infidelity, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Stalking

simixfe's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

2.75

There was no need for this to be this f*cking long. 
The concept was good but the implementation was lacking...
I probably would have enjoyed it if it hadn't been written by Orwell



I read it a second time for my A-level and surprisingly I liked it even less. As for now, I would only give it 2⭐ My criticism from the first time reading it still holds true for me but the second time it felt even more annoying and repetitive...

The plot could be summarised with only a few words

Winston: all women bad, government bad too
Julia: I love you
Sex
Talking about rebellion
More sex
Even more sex
Receives "the book" from O'Brien
Info dump 
Arrest
Torture
Rats
Gives in
End

And a lot more passages with only info dump

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, and War

Minor: Slavery, Suicide, and Murder

bradiehilliard's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Confinement, Death, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

therobinjoyce's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Winston, the main character, lives in a dystopian country where individual thought is banned and where only the leader, an entity known as Big Brother, is allowed to reason and to decide. He is conflicted by his own thoughts and urged by his natural instincts to question the wisdom of Big Brother. Throughout the pages of the book he moves hopefully toward his own liberation and the liberation of all mankind from Big Brother’s terrifying regime, but in defying Big Brother with his own thoughts, he dooms himself to the full wrath of this totalitarian government.

This book really isn’t for the faint of heart. Obviously, 1984 was written well before our day and the style of writing evidently shows that, but the principles and concepts conveyed in the pages of this book are very thought-provoking (as all of George Orwell's books are) and relevant even today.

Amazingly, he has created a dystopian world far different from what the reality of 1984 was actually like, but one, nonetheless, that is a stark warning to mankind if they continue down certain paths even nowadays.

Throughout the pages of the book, Orwell warns of the serious danger totalitarianism poses to society and goes to extreme lengths to demonstrate the terrifying degree of power and control which a totalitarian regime can acquire and maintain even without the use of much modern technology.

It was truly frightening to behold at certain points and definitely one to read. If you're after a gripping, dark, dystopian tale of seemingly doomed hope and espionage against a totalitarian government, you will most likely be thrilled to read this book. If however, you suffer from any kind of nervous disposition, please do not attempt this novel. One look at the content warnings below will give you a good understanding of why I say this...

TRIGGER WARNING: Torture, Violence, Physical Abuse, Confinement, Misogyny, Death, Forced Institutionalization, Sexism, Gore, Sexual Content, Body Horror, Emotional Abuse, Rape, Sexual Violence, Suicidal Thoughts, Murder, Gaslighting, Xenophobia, Blood, War, Alcohol, Hate Crime, Genocide, Body Shaming, Gun Violence, Alcoholism, Medical Content, Cursing, Child Death

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Alcohol