Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

The Circle by Dave Eggers

6 reviews

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 :)

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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

ashm9's review

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Sexual content, and Suicide

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Bullying, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Animal death, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

sylvie0625's review

challenging dark reflective sad medium-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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Eating disorder

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

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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

kelseak96's review

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-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? Yes

3.0

Some things about Egger's narrative choices that I absolutely hated, some things I liked, and overall one of the most disturbing books I've read in a while. Mae is just about the most obnoxious, least sympathetic main character I've ever read, which I assume was intentional but also made me want to rip the book in half at some points. It reads a bit like a Libertarian manifesto at some points, and I wish it went farther to address issues of class, race, etc., but it was a pretty wild and chillingly believable story of what could happen if we let corporate tech have too much control. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Forced institutionalization, and Stalking

suicide