Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

The Circle by Dave Eggers

9 reviews

ottercorg's review

dark funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Usually it's hard for me to read a book with a main character that makes me so mad, but for this plot to really work, Mae had to play that role. 

I love considering at which moment any given reader would finally say The Circle had gone to far. At which new implement does any given reader lose hope? 

I read this book thinking about Meta, and now that I've finished I think about it in the context of Ai in this current world. 

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed it. As always, I like books to neatly tie off all plotlines at the end and this one doesn't do that - but apparently this is a series, which means there's still hope...

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, Kidnapping, Slavery, Death, Medical trauma, Medical content, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Alcohol, Car accident, and Chronic illness

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

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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

emclean95's review against another edition

challenging mysterious 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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Body shaming, Stalking, and Fatphobia

Moderate: Chronic illness, Medical content, and Ableism

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

naiu_cs's review against another edition

challenging reflective tense slow-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? No

4.0

A bit too slow paced for me at times but the character development of the main character had my jaw dropped.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death and Medical content

norwegianforestreader's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Car accident, Chronic illness, Grief, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual violence, Medical trauma, Suicide, Classism, Medical content, and Panic attacks/disorders

iridaceae's review

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Cursing, and Sexual content

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Fatphobia, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide, Terminal illness, and War

Minor: Abandonment, Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Cancer, Colonisation, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Gore, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, Violence, Vomit, and Xenophobia

elodie_melodie's review against another edition

dark reflective tense 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

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Car accident, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Kidnapping, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Suicide, and Toxic friendship

morganperks's review

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Chronic illness, Death, Medical content, Sexual content, and Suicide

Minor: Child death and Kidnapping