Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

1984 by George Orwell

217 reviews

riverofhorton's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

So this was actually my second read of this book, the first having been around 10 years ago. Just as I did the previous read through, I was struck by just how much of this book is relevant to our world today. This is one of the books that I will keep coming back to again and again throughout my lifetime.
The book itself is a somewhat dramatised (hopefully) version of Stalin's Russia/Nazi Germany. It has so many layers to it, and I', still not convinces I've worked out just how deep the 'Party' goes in their propaganda, gaslighting, and plotting against its own citizens.
This is an incredibly well planned out (or perhaps the word is researched) and realised world, where even the bits that are fiction could very easily be real. That, I think, is the true terror of this book: How easily society could go from even today's status, to that found in this book. Thus, Orwell's intention to have this book serve as a warning was fully realised.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Acephobia/Arophobia, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

cupcake23's review against another edition

challenging 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

1.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence

clairebau's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

2.5

This was only a little bit of a chore to get through. I get that it was like, the big thing for its time, but I couldn't get past the messy, disjointed storytelling, the weak attempts at symbolism, and the unlikeable characters. God, the unlikeable characters! Though I will grant them the fact that their god-awful personalities are a result of their surroundings. Julia's only personality trait is being not-like-other-girls. Martyr Winston admits a rape fantasy in the first 20 pages of the book, so I stopped sympathizing with him pretty much immediately.

This book just feels all over the place in a few ways, especially in its pacing. It didn't feel well-rounded or expertly crafted, more like Orwell had a bunch of ideas he slapped together for an excuse to publish twenty pages of grandstanding right in the middle. Yawn.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual assault and War

Minor: Rape

cursed_hal's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Sexism, and War

Minor: Child death and Colonisation

elliotcarlisle's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

yusufmohi's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

4.0

After i finished a  dark, surrealistic, gloomy, confusing emotional book known as Kafka on the shore. All i need a break to get out from that Kafka and his world... So i choose randomly sci-fi classic Orwell's 1984 i know nothing aboht this book... I just thought it will be adventurous coz it's an dystopian sci-fi.. But i was Dead wrong...it's like "Thief is released from the prison but arrested again"...right from the beginning this novel is challenging for me, a total nightmare until it's very end.
Kindly know about your novel before you read. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Slavery, Torture, and War

ninnicannotspell's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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

2.0

The book as a story for enjoyment is a 0/5 star but the message within is 5/5 stars. Complicated book that I love to hate.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Sexual violence

hannahcstocks's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious reflective sad tense 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

jefferz's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

2.5

A classic I never got around to reading during school, as others have praised the concepts and themes hold up remarkably well. Some aspects such as the controlling history and the narrative can even be seen today in the form of "Fake News" or social media trends and hypes. I found the first 2/3 of the book to be a dry and uninteresting read where I was speed-reading to get through it (the tone and characters were not to my taste) and there's some questionable takes on how women are portrayed (though again, this is written in the 1950's which is to be expected to a certain degree) but thinks got a bit more interesting at a particular tuning point near the end of the book. It's portrayal of Stockholm syndrome was interesting and complex (which is even more impressive considering the term and definition of Stockholm syndrome wouldn't be discovered for another 20 yrs) and you never know where things will go as is the norm for George Orwell novels (apart from leaving a rather pointed statement at the story's conclusion). I would've score this a 2 based on overall enjoyment/experience but bumped it up by how prophetic this novel is considering its age and how significant it was to the dystopian/utopia genre in both literature and movies (it's reminiscent of The Giver but executed in a harsher and more complex setting).

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Confinement, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

voidbagel's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse and Torture