Reviews tagging 'Lesbophobia'

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

84 reviews

martinadr's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Death, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Racism, and Body shaming

chrisljm's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-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

3.0

how come no one told me she was racist 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Vomit

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Self harm, and Suicide

Minor: Child death, Racial slurs, and Sexual content

lottselgar's review against another edition

challenging 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

4.25

this was like reading someone’s intrusive thoughts but in a deep, emotional way

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Racism and Racial slurs

Minor: Lesbophobia

avocadotoastbee's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Bell Jar really hit me in the face. 

[...], and I felt now that all the uncomfortable suspicions I had about myself were coming true, and I couldn't hide the truth much longer. After nineteen years of running after good marks and prizes and grants of one sort and another, I was letting up, slowing down, dropping clean out of the race.

As a burned-out gifted kid, currently in university, trying to find any purpose, I was hooked after reading these lines. I didn't know the story would take such turns, but ended up loving it, mostly because I could relate to the main character, Esther.
I started reading this novel knowing nothing about Sylvia Plath as a person. Later, I found out The Bell Jar is based on her own experiences. This makes sense because the descriptions of depression and suicide are accurate and detailed.
All in all I enjoyed The Bell Jar. However, it is recommended to read the book with caution if you are easily triggered by several explicit descriptions of suicide.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Racial slurs, Rape, Body shaming, and Racism

Minor: Lesbophobia

_danicortes's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Es una historia difícil de leer. Tuve que parar en varias ocasiones. Me resulta inimaginable el dolor de Sylvia Plath. Creo que el primer párrafo del texto transmite exactamente lo que será el resto del libro

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Torture

Moderate: Physical abuse, Self harm, Body shaming, Death, Medical trauma, Misogyny, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Sexual violence, Vomit, Infidelity, and Suicide

ryan_rajp's review against another edition

dark 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Alcohol, Body shaming, Lesbophobia, Blood, Homophobia, Racial slurs, and Racism

marissasa's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I'm glad I finally got around to reading this classic, as it has the best and most realistic description of depression I've ever read. It was alarmingly realistic with how much I could relate to Esther's feelings, mental illness, and sentiments about her future, especially in the beginning of the book, but makes sense when you take in the context that this is a roman a clef with mostly true occurrences from Plath's life. Even the small things, not just the obvious existential dread and depressive outlook, were so relatable and accurate to being a mentally ill and directionless young woman in her 20s. The way Esther walked 40+ blocks back to her hotel alone in the dead of night because she didn't want to pay for a cab and because she didn't care if anything happened to her, was genuinely something I did multiple times in college for the same reasons. The main character is flawed and sometimes even a bad person, but she is nuanced and complex just as struggling women are in real life. The things she goes through are harrowing and tense, but we do get to see the progress from her descent into mental illness to her eventual improvement and potential release from the psych ward, and I think that was a meaningful decision that only further humanizes her. In addition, the prose, imagery, and overall writing is beautiful. I specifically loved every metaphor and simile Plath used to describe her bleak outlook on her future: "I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story", "I saw the years of my life spaced along a road in the form of telephone poles, threaded together by wires", and "I saw the days of the year stretching ahead like a series of bright, white boxes, and separating one box from another was sleep, like a black shade." Similar to other poets who have written novels, you can just tell how they have such a masterful command over the language and can string together words into the most beautiful sentences. The only thing stopping this book from being a 5 star read for me is the fact that there are some racist comments and slurs that were typical of white people in the 50s (and frankly today too, sigh). While I recognize that it was a different time back then and that certain things seen as wrong today were unfortunately normalized, I think it's important to not ignore them completely and still factor in those things when you are critically reading, rating, and reviewing a book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Death, Medical content, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Blood, Body shaming, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Mental illness, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Homophobia and Lesbophobia

halcyonkathryn's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Medical content, Fatphobia, Blood, Self harm, Racial slurs, Body shaming, Death, Drug abuse, Suicide, Racism, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Vomit, Xenophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Cultural appropriation, Classism, and Eating disorder

lindsbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Lesbophobia and Racism

Minor: Homophobia

marjoleinvanderspoel's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

Hmmmm. I do think it's well written and some of the lines hit so hard but! Its racist and homophobic and hurtful and triggering af and why does no one talk about this??

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Racial slurs, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Racism, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Blood, Body shaming, Misogyny, and Sexism