Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

135 reviews

veepopp's review against another edition

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Death of parent

lauriereads_'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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Vomit, and Death of parent

goemonxiii's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-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

2.75

While I can appreciate The Bell Jar for what it is and what it's done for the field of literature, feminism, and mental health... it's not for me (which is fine). I'm not particularly enthusiastic about this book, there were parts that were difficult to get through, and I doubt I'll read it again. It's not terrible, and there were in fact parts that I liked, and I do like being able to say that I've read The Bell Jar, but other than that there's not much here.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Racism and Death of parent

several graphic suicide attempts, severe mental illness, depression, medical complication involving birth control

l1ttle_f0x's review

dark reflective sad 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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Body shaming and Death of parent

realcharliekelmeckis's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

oh my god. such a haunting and beautiful and powerful and incredibly real portrayal of mental illness and that terrifying void between youth and adulthood that no one talks about. the way plath manages to put what i believed to be indescribable and isolated feelings into words blew me away. i’ve rarely felt as understood as i did reading this. wonderful and horrible all at once, absolutely captivating, and i’m in love with plath’s writing. most importantly, i feel like i read this at the most perfect time in my life, and though it hurt to read i think i will be forever grateful to it.

note: of course keeping in mind plath’s casual racism, a sign of the times but inexcusable nonetheless

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, and Self harm

Minor: Death of parent

madizig21'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? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I didn’t know what was happening at any point. Esther was very understandable though. 

---

Content Warnings

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

Minor: Vomit and Death of parent

armadillopickleman's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis and Pregnancy

Minor: Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

ziiemvee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Racial slurs and Sexual assault

Minor: Vomit and Death of parent

eva_vva's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Body shaming, Drug use, Infertility, Racial slurs, and Abandonment

nightisareader's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I’ll divide this review into two sections: one that I’m clear on, and the second that confuses the hell out of me.
Section one:
What I absolutely adored about this book is the stream of consciousness writing style. It was neatly tied together and everything found its end nicely. The vocabulary was a bit meh but I guess it works. The book was quite... American? I don’t know honestly, I’m too Asian  for it probably so, reading things like “...he was trying to prove he could be aesthetic...” had me cringe just a little bit. But that’s on me haha. The characters were realistic, the events as well, without any... poetic layer. Yeah, let’s call it that.
Oh and the lovely analogies! I did wish they were explained a bit more but it’s fine, I guess, since the tone of the book was not complimentary to huge descriptions that creep up your body and gently sink themselves into your skin. 

Section two:
Now this part is about Esther herself and do I like her character or not? The answer WAS a big fat no but then she sorta grew on me but I still dislike her. Why? There I’m a bit lost; not completely though. The girl was racist and hateful. My friend pointed out that being hateful is a depression thing which lead to an odd question where even now I’m wondering if her racism and hate is justified by her mental condition but I’m choosing to not ponder over it for too long.

Overall, the book is a tiny bit overhyped but it has its charms.
One thing though, I do not know what kind of readers I would recommend this to because for some it would be triggering, for some unrelatable, and I’m a tiny bit concerned for those who do find it relatable (minus the cracks that let in the light of hope)
What I will say is that if you pick up the book, make sure you learn from her, not the methods to succumb but the methods to survive in the bell jar.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Pregnancy