Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - The Virgin Suicides

Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

80 reviews

mjones14's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

This was a really interesting book. The prose mirrors the style of 'on earth we are briefly gorgeous' in being poeticly written. Unfortunately, it is a victim of its time with several outdated stereotypes, however I still enjoyed it overall

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danielakalexandra's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
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

4.0

This was a slow read but not in a bad way. The way Eugenides creates tension and makes you feel that you’re at the places he’s describing is immaculate, and it’s understandable that The Virgin Suicides has become the classic that it has

Does it sometimes walk in to being highly creepy, and the way that literal girls are described is kind of gross? Absolutely. I’m not sure if the author is a creep or it’s meant to be the vibe of the read, but it truly is icky and makes the tension of the book even more tense.

Sometimes it drags, would lie if I said it didn’t. It took me forever to finish because sometimes I just didn’t prioritised reading this book cause I felt that nothing had happened for a while, or I wasn’t in the right headspace. Very happy I did finish it though, and now I want to watch the movie again!

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mary_do_12's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? No

5.0

would it be mean to say i didn’t know men could write novels like this?

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grace_madeleine's review against another edition

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4.0

the depiction of young girls and the young boys who secretly covet and worship them are so intriguingly accurate portrayed in this way. Although I see the criticisms of it, along with the fact a man wrote it, it doesn’t make the presentation of how the young, unreliable narrators see these girls who are kept away in a mysterious veil of apparent mysticism according to their young minds inaccurate in any way. While the boys think of them as idealized angels, other accounts describe them as repulsive at times, tracing the ever descriptive nature of youth and the circumstances and time in which these girls live. There is no “female rage” as booktok wants so bad to have, there is only quiet simmering until the conclusion, which we all expect, but when it happens, we are left saddened, feeling like we intimately know these girls, and in the end, it makes us no better than the teenage boys living through the girls vicariously and voyeuristically.

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_rowan_'s review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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haleysversion's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad 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

2.75

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myfff's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective slow-paced

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

2.5

I found this incredibly bleak. Obviously the title doesn’t set you up for a happy story but what I found jarring is that the style of narration is so detached, like a scientific review or a court case and the deaths of these girls is not only known (due to the plot) but feels inevitable for them.

It has the energy of an American Classic in the same way Gatsby does and I can see why so many people love it, however I found it much more interesting once I had read some analyses of it after finishing it - so if you’re looking for something with themes and a need for analysis this is definitely for you, if you want a story to enjoy maybe not so much.

The most interesting point (after analysing) is to see these boys who say they loved them actually didn’t know them at all and were just infatuated by the idea of these unknown women who live opposite them but are always just out of reach. The style is also a brilliant insight to the complexities of teenage girls, as the adult men who are trying to remember the events through the eyes of themselves as teenage boys, think they understand these teenage girls but realise they never could. Interestingly the author being male also raises the question for me of how well could he understand these girls, and with that in mind they do have a slightly ‘manic pixie dreamgirl’ quality to them.

My highlight of the book was the prom where the reader is able to engage with the girls properly for the first time, not just through the eyes and words of those around them.

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