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asafekindofhigh's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Suicide, Body shaming, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Animal death, and Animal cruelty
cecinamo's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Really good and terrifying book!
Sometimes it really stressed me out reading about how social interaction and having no privacy were basically mandatory o_o…
The mc is a classical unreliable narrator. It’s maddening how self centered and close minded she is at some points.
The book explores the dangers of a completely digitalized and surveilled world. It’s very interesting and scary.
I think the ending fell a bit short, but overall it was very good! :>
Sometimes it really stressed me out reading about how social interaction and having no privacy were basically mandatory o_o…
The mc is a classical unreliable narrator. It’s maddening how self centered and close minded she is at some points.
The book explores the dangers of a completely digitalized and surveilled world. It’s very interesting and scary.
I think the ending fell a bit short, but overall it was very good! :>
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Car accident, Suicide, Alcohol, Animal death, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Gaslighting, Blood, Stalking, Misogyny, Grief, Death, and Mental illness
phantomgecko's review
challenging
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I hated this book. It's agonizing to read.
But the 4 star rating isn't a mistake. Eggers had a message and related it perfectly.
Science fiction is a critique of the present. The Circle uses hyperbole but like just barely. The real possibility of this particular dystopia is chilling and sooooo frustrating.
Mae is the perfect protagonist. I didn't agree with a single one of her choices. Everything she chose was wrong or stupid. Her thought processes were believable, though, so it unfortunately all made sense. To have a character that swallowed all the propaganda (and helped create it) as the main character made the message that much more effective. More effective than just having the "bad guys" do all the bad things.
Honestly, I could write a really in depth literary analysis of this novel, but I don't have the time, and doing so would be too depressing/aggravating. And also patronizing, I think. I was originally going to point out specific things that happen in the book and how insidious they are, but...as a reader I trust you to see it.
It's not subtle.
But the 4 star rating isn't a mistake. Eggers had a message and related it perfectly.
Science fiction is a critique of the present. The Circle uses hyperbole but like just barely. The real possibility of this particular dystopia is chilling and sooooo frustrating.
Mae is the perfect protagonist. I didn't agree with a single one of her choices. Everything she chose was wrong or stupid. Her thought processes were believable, though, so it unfortunately all made sense. To have a character that swallowed all the propaganda (and helped create it) as the main character made the message that much more effective. More effective than just having the "bad guys" do all the bad things.
Honestly, I could write a really in depth literary analysis of this novel, but I don't have the time, and doing so would be too depressing/aggravating. And also patronizing, I think. I was originally going to point out specific things that happen in the book and how insidious they are, but...as a reader I trust you to see it.
It's not subtle.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Classism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Death, Cursing, Fatphobia, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship
queen_of_vice's review
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
It's not worth it because it doesn't add anything new or relevant to the conversation within it's genre.
I'm so disappointed we read this garbage in school instead of a good dystopian novel.
The author literally bragged about not having researched anything about how the internet and technical stuff he tried to include in his story work and it shows.
All the characters are unlikable and the 'romance' plot was so unnecessary and bad. The sex scenes were even worse.
The author can't write realistic women either.
I'm so disappointed we read this garbage in school instead of a good dystopian novel.
The author literally bragged about not having researched anything about how the internet and technical stuff he tried to include in his story work and it shows.
All the characters are unlikable and the 'romance' plot was so unnecessary and bad. The sex scenes were even worse.
The author can't write realistic women either.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia and Body shaming
Moderate: Suicide, Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
samdalefox's review
challenging
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
2.5
I read this because I had heard good reviews from people who don't usually read dystopican sci-fi type books, plus I saw the film advertsied on netflix and thought I'd like to read the book before trying the film. So I didn't have high expectations, but I did have expectations. I think that people like The Circle so much precisely because they've not read other dystopian scifi. If you’ve never swam in the ocean then of course a pool seems deep. The Circle is ok, but it's nothing new (totalitarian corporate capitalist technocracy has been around for decades) and it's certainly not done well. Eggers even cocks up the references and definitions by referring to it as communism....twice.
The usual themes emerge: the use, scope, and abuse of power that comes with who can own, access, and benefit/be penalised by technology. The limits of personal privacy and individualism vs the 'collective good' of transparency. The importance of consent and having the option to opt out. Very limited commentary on the role and limitations of democracy. It touched upon more modern ermeging issues such as changes to people's sense of identity, belonging, and self worth i.e., "The tools you use, artificially manufacture unaturally extreme social needs". Plus the addictiveness, feeling of urgency, and faux-connectedness of being 'very online'. In a nutshell, a society that knows the price of everything but the value of nothing.
I agree with the review referenced below. I will also add that I found Mae's character unbelievably naive. Even accounting for her desperate need for praise and age. For me things went downhill rapidly after the end of book one with her announcement of going transparent . Most events that occurred did so slowly, repetitively, superficially, predictably and naively. The ending did not surprise me or disappoint me, it was simply one big meh. It didn't scare me at all. In short, there are other books out there that have covered these topics in greater depth, with more interesting angles, and with a better command of storytelling. I'd recommend first reading Liu Cixin's scifi short story 'The Mirror'.
dllh's review:
The usual themes emerge: the use, scope, and abuse of power that comes with who can own, access, and benefit/be penalised by technology. The limits of personal privacy and individualism vs the 'collective good' of transparency. The importance of consent and having the option to opt out. Very limited commentary on the role and limitations of democracy. It touched upon more modern ermeging issues such as changes to people's sense of identity, belonging, and self worth i.e., "The tools you use, artificially manufacture unaturally extreme social needs". Plus the addictiveness, feeling of urgency, and faux-connectedness of being 'very online'. In a nutshell, a society that knows the price of everything but the value of nothing.
I agree with the review referenced below. I will also add that I found Mae's character unbelievably naive. Even accounting for her desperate need for praise and age. For me things went downhill rapidly after the end of book one with her announcement
dllh's review:
"This is fine, if a bit long and baggy, for like commodity fiction, but it was really disappointing as a book from an author with literary proclivities. It's an important subject whose potential is ruined in this book by a failure at some of the basics of writing well. The characters are just barely two dimensional, and their interactions often feel as if written by somebody who has never actually witnessed human interaction outside of badly written dialogue. The details of the book are sufficiently close to our current reality as to not feel outlandishly dystopian but sufficiently off kilter as to not feel quite real, which makes reading it a really strange experience. To work well, fiction of this sort needs to be either outlandish or close enough to reality that the divergences from reality are really significant, and I don't think Eggers achieves that balance."
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual assault, Chronic illness, Fatphobia, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
robyn_fenix's review
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Medical content, Suicide, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal death, Cancer, and Stalking
Minor: Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Medical content, Abandonment, Slavery, Cancer, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Grief, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Cultural appropriation, Eating disorder, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, and Sexual assault
eule's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
tense
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
3.0
I like and loathe this book simultaneously. This book is important to read. It’s important to understand and stress the right to anonymity. „We must all have the right to disappear“ as a certain character (no spoiler) put it in the book. While I believe this book is crucial to read, I still hate it wholeheartedly. Why, you may ask?
- I hate nearly all characters, especially the main character, Mae Holland (arrogant, naïve, selfish, indecisive, biased, disgusting, facile, ignorant, … the list goes on)
- I hate the weird relationships she has (never call the tip of a penis crown again)
- I hate Mae’s non-existing personality (why did they chose poor Emma Watson in the movie???)
- I hate that this book has no chapters (Is it meant to be a circle with no ending or beginning?)
- I hate that character development is missing (she had so many chances to change her behavior), even though that’s the whole point of the book: she is supposed to represent the people blindly following a monopoly system
- I hate the fatphobia and the CONSTANT MANIPULATION, HELP
- I hate and love simultaneously that the plot is „just“ about the life at the company and how it takes over the world
- I am confused about the tension. I was sometimes bored to death because she was rendering about her „dumb friends (Mercer and Annie) and family (her parents). And in the next moment I wanted to know if we will ever get revenge on this entitled bitch and the inveterate circle
You see, I am enraged about this book and that’s the whole point, I believe. We have to understand that this book, even though it was published 10 years ago, is a mirror to today’s reality (have Google, Facebook and co in mind). Still you could have easily shortened the book by 100/200 pages.
Ps: thank you to my friend Nex for letting me buy this book from him :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Forced institutionalization, Alcohol, Medical content, Body shaming, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Car accident, Child abuse, Abandonment, Child death, and Colonisation
ladyzbyrd's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
This book came highly recommended by a friend.
Typical dystopian horror story with recycled tropes, high predictability, and superficial characters.
Even the few sex scenes and mental fantasies for a female protagonist were CLEARLY written by a man.
I would not recommend this unless you’re deep into conspiracy theories about how technology is sooooooo incredibly evil. There’s interestingly a heavily biased “warning” against evil technology (read: power-hungry people) that you just can’t miss.
Typical dystopian horror story with recycled tropes, high predictability, and superficial characters.
I would not recommend this unless you’re deep into conspiracy theories about how technology is sooooooo incredibly evil. There’s interestingly a heavily biased “warning” against evil technology (read: power-hungry people) that you just can’t miss.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Bullying, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Animal death, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
tramuntana's review against another edition
Man kann die Gefahren von Social Media sehen und darauf basierend eine tolle Geschichte schreiben, oder man ist Dave Eggers und schreibt Der Circle.
Ich wäre ja noch damit klargekommen, dass die Charaktere einfach nur Katalysatoren für den Plot und die Moral der Geschichte und deshalb hundsmiserabel geschrieben sind, aber dass Mae ausgerechnet mit diesem Bündel an Red Flags zusammenkommt, war dann doch zu viel. Weiterlesen wäre Zeitverschwendung (hab aber gespinxt wie's ausgeht)!
Ich wäre ja noch damit klargekommen, dass die Charaktere einfach nur Katalysatoren für den Plot und die Moral der Geschichte und deshalb hundsmiserabel geschrieben sind, aber dass Mae ausgerechnet mit diesem Bündel an Red Flags zusammenkommt, war dann doch zu viel. Weiterlesen wäre Zeitverschwendung (hab aber gespinxt wie's ausgeht)!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship
Moderate: Bullying
charlynlynlyn's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Sexual content, Suicide, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Chronic illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking
Minor: Slavery, War, Violence, Stalking, and Police brutality
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