Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

128 reviews

lindaaroesler's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective tense 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

3.5

It’s a wee bit racist. Overall a good book tho. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

trish1oo1's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

3.25

Languid prose that is sprinkled with dry humor and feminism. I think this solidifies that i just don’t like literary fiction. 
esther’s journey is fascinating. initially she just feels empty when her life is seemly perfect and doesn’t not want to fit into the stereotypical 1950s feminine role. as the novel progresses she begins to show signs of depression and paranoia. unfortunate, she doesn’t get the correct treatment for it because she’s in the 1950’s (which makes me celebrate how far medicine has come.) she got lobotomies, like that’s insane. also there is this notion that the bell jar-a metaphor for her mental state- that is suffocating her lifts and “clears” directly after electroshock therapy. that has got to be a placebo right?
besides that Esther is selfish and demonstrates this multiple times through the novel. this could be partly due to her mental illness, her depression causing her to not care about anyone but herself. but i believe this behavior is a defining characteristic of her. she is self centered, early in the novel and later into it. i don’t particularly like Esther but i understand her. this was a bleak journey.  
also should be mentioned Sylvia Plath wrote this as a Roman a clef and shortly after publishing this novel she committed suicide. I feel wrong judging this book because of that. this is basically an autobiography. but if im looking at this solely as a piece of literature it’s definitely not my favorite. 
**also, Esther says so prejudiced things against a few marginalized communities. there’s undertones it’s not very overt and i do understand the time period this was written/set in but it’s a little uncomfortable to read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Body shaming, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Homophobia, Racism, and Blood

sexyslutsyndrome's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Suicide attempt, and Lesbophobia

sneha_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Antisemitism, and Suicide attempt

paperknotbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

Edit 01.2023: originally read this after I left college in the early aughts. I only recall this feeling of rigidity and heartlessness. This was harder approaching the book now, especially after having read Red Comet, by Heather Clark. So haunting and gutting, Esther’s collapse was so much more raw than I recalled.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, and Suicide attempt

ornebbn's review against another edition

dark sad 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

4.5

esther my not so beloved lesbophobic lesbian 💞   

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Body shaming, Racism, Xenophobia, Death of parent, and Lesbophobia

g_monaghan's review against another edition

3.0

Incredibly depressing and problematic, the metaphor of the fig tree has ruined me forever, (also unsure of the current location of this book)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

Moderate: Body shaming, Eating disorder, and Misogyny

bugcollector's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-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

3.5

tbh at the beginning the mc seemed shallow, and with constant racist (and other bad tase) comments, i found it hard to relate to her.
it happens so many times throughout the book, that you can't just let it pass and move forward right away imo.

at about page 140 i started to get what people like about this book. 
the author does have a way with describing depression, and numbness. that part i found the most heart wrenching

to sum up, if you get skip the insufferable mc at the start, i think you find good soup 👌🥣, though i still finished it feeling like something was missing and i can't put my finger on it
 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship

Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, and Gaslighting

alexnawr's review against another edition

dark hopeful reflective sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide

Minor: Body shaming and Racism

amepeche's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

"Everybody in a Technicolor movie seems to feel obliged to wear a lurid costume in each new scene"

Just like Esther, we really are all stuck in a bell jar. For our own little perks and flaws, we are kept on display - a fragile enclosed throne.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Suicide

Moderate: Death

Minor: Body shaming and Racial slurs