Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann

23 reviews

lollymac's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

2.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Sexual content, Mental illness, Infertility, Forced institutionalization, Eating disorder, Drug use, Abortion, Self harm, Suicide, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Medical content, Pregnancy, Body shaming, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia, Biphobia, Infidelity, Grief, Fatphobia, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Confinement, Cancer, Alcohol, and Abandonment

The book was slow to start as Anne isn't the most interesting character to follow around. But I raced to the finish as it became a telenovela. If you want to read about career women who get punished for every bad decision they make, and men who do the bare minimum facing no consequences and getting rewarded for it.

taleofabibliophile's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Abortion, Cancer, Death, Alcohol, Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Suicide, Confinement, Cursing, Misogyny, Death of parent, Drug use, Drug abuse, Mental illness, War, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Car accident, Lesbophobia, and Violence

Minor: Antisemitism

moonwillow27458's review

challenging dark emotional medium-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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Drug use, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Addiction, Death, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Terminal illness, Body shaming, and Gaslighting

haileyeh's review

dark 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

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug use, Suicide, Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia

Moderate: Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Cancer, Infertility, Infidelity, Homophobia, and Abortion

gabriella_'s review

dark emotional funny sad tense

• 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

4.5

this book is going to haunt me, i know it. parts of the book are tough to swallow (esp the fatphobia/body shaming, ableism, and homophobia) but if you can power through, it’s so worth it. idk if this is a hot take but i think it has a similar message to the barbie movie but it does it better

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Gaslighting, Grief, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Cancer, Classism, Confinement, Addiction, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Abortion, Blood, Body shaming, Abandonment, Ableism, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death of parent, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, and Death

lbyars99's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Alcohol, Cancer, Grief, Homophobia, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Blood, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Death, Mental illness, and Pregnancy

subtlymelancholy's review

dark emotional reflective 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

It's a slow start but if you really like Old Hollywood (before the collapse of the studio system, so like 1940s-60s) once you start it's REALLY difficult to put it down.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Fatphobia, Medical content, Sexism, Suicide, Addiction, Gaslighting, Suicide attempt, Cancer, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia, and Terminal illness

There are a lot of seriously triggering topics covered in this book and it's not really something that can easily be skipped over. It's also a combination of the characters' internalized feelings and the result of the time and place the book was written.

robyn1998's review

dark funny informative reflective sad tense 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

4.0

I'm glad I read this, but if I ever read the trigger warnings I would've left it alone. There's an enormous amount of diet talk, specific weights (some of which were a bit too real for me), ED behaviour and so on. Not to mention the fatphobia and dehumanisation of women. 
That being said, it's 4 stars because it was somehow so entertaining. I just couldn't put it down. It was like a time capsule and I love that in a book, especially when it's set in the US in the middle of the 20th century. Makes me want to read more Truman Capote books. I liked the characterisations, even though the characters themselves were mostly horrible.  

---

Content Warnings

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

alpal_collective's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Body shaming, Suicide, Addiction, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Homophobia and Alcoholism

chrisp189's review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Abortion, Drug use, Eating disorder, Addiction, Fatphobia, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Pregnancy, Self harm, Suicide, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Homophobia, and Toxic friendship