Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann

26 reviews

riley2005's review

dark emotional funny 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Alcoholism

Moderate: Cancer, Fatphobia, and Homophobia

Minor: Abortion

lowkey need a hbo remake miniseries about this, was so sad when jennifer died, she was my favorite character

rose12435's review

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.0

This book is dark and like bojack horseman for girls that enjoy drama and misery. While this book isn't happy, I genuinely enjoyed finding out how much worse the characters could get.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Suicide, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Alcoholism, Cancer, Fatphobia, Cursing, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Rape, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Drug use, and Grief

This book is dark and not afraid to hurt it's reader. Please please please be careful when reading it

noshinbean's review

dark reflective 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Eating disorder, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Alcohol, Fatphobia, Lesbophobia, and Mental illness

Moderate: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Body shaming, Cancer, Grief, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Death, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Abortion, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

tschmitty's review

dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.0

 I understand how this was a sensational read at the time of publication, but the longer it went on the less I cared about the three characters involved. Neely was especially annoying, what a pill! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Mental illness, Body shaming, Cursing, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Addiction, Homophobia, Abortion, Alcoholism, Drug use, Cancer, and Sexism

bxcvi's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Drug use, Homophobia, Addiction, Mental illness, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Infidelity, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Abortion, Biphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Fatphobia, Medical content, and Cancer

dumaurier's review against another edition

medium-paced

4.25

neely o'hara you will be dealt with

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Alcoholism, and Suicide

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Cancer, Sexual content, Self harm, and Sexual harassment

_camelia's review

emotional 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

3.75

Set post war era, 20 yrs span. Slow beginning. At times the writing can be silly and stiff. Pace was just okay.

Anne's romance with Lyon is cringey but serves its purpose to teach a lesson.

I wouldn't say that it is full of risque drama.

It's rather a sad tale about what happens to people that power trip, that force others into the narrative they want, that value body image over everything, etc. Story about growing pains and betrayal.

It's not a crazy party scene. It's a good classic and certainly feels advanced for its time. Despite what we tend to believe, getting what you wanted does not always bring happiness. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Cancer, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Toxic relationship

laurenw's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional fast-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Body shaming, Alcohol, Death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Drug abuse, and Medical content

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Homophobia

Minor: Cancer

hmorawska's review

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Suicide attempt, and Misogyny

Moderate: Addiction, Homophobia, and Fatphobia

Minor: Abortion, Cancer, and Eating disorder

buckupcamper's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I love this book. Laverne Cox’s narration is really fun, too. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Misogyny, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Abortion, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Gaslighting, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Fatphobia, Drug use, Drug abuse, Sexism, Body shaming, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Suicide and Cancer