You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Scan barcode
kaymay29's review against another edition
- 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? No
3.75
Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, and Classism
Moderate: Body shaming, Child death, Slavery, Stalking, Death of parent, and Colonisation
lucasgillon's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Gaslighting
Moderate: Child death, Death, and Death of parent
Minor: Abandonment
emily_bg's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
I enjoyed the book and thought it was cleverly written and very haunting
Graphic: Child death and Torture
mme_carton's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Grief
izzydelaya's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Cursing, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Violence, Stalking, Murder, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Child death, Genocide, Infidelity, Slavery, Antisemitism, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Colonisation
chaosandwildflowers's review against another edition
- 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
2.5
First issue: the writing style. It's so...dry? Like even when things get interesting towards the end, it's a bit of a slog to get through. And this might have been the fault of my particular edition, but the paragraphs were SO long and blocky, especially once I got to the book within the book (don't even get me started on how useless I found the book within the book).
Second problem: the characters. To put it bluntly, I hated every single character. All of them. Except for the clothesline lady, I liked her well enough lmao, but everyone else I just wanted to strangle with my bare hands!! And I understand, I get it, I realize that this is part of the book's commentary, but what I've learned from reading this book is that it doesn't matter how ~deep~ the commentary is, if the character whose thoughts I'm reading is hateable and a loser, I just could not care less about what they have to say! And Julia? Equally hateable. She and Winston are, even at their best, SO self centered, I just honestly wanted to throw the book across the room the whole time either one of them was on the page, which was the entire time.
When I take a step back and look at this through the perspective of having read it, I see how Orwell was using every detail to get his message across, this whole idea of warning us of totalitarianism and the danger of not knowing the past, and all of that, but I don't think I will ever willingly read this book again.
So, at the end of the day, would I recommend this book? Yes and no. If you're looking for an entertaining dystopia on the level of The Hunger Games, you're not going to find that here. Buuuuuuut if you're in the kind of headspace where you're ready to read an unentertaining, repetitive, dryly written book with exactly zero likable characters to be seen; if you think you're ready to slog through all that, then yes would recommend it because I think its the kind of book everyone should read at least once. Just don't go into it expecting to root for the characters or care more than a little about the plot.
Graphic: Torture
Moderate: Child death, Death, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Fatphobia, Rape, and Death of parent
torismazarine's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Police brutality
Moderate: War
Minor: Child death and Death
francescazksxmc's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Slavery, Vomit, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and War
Minor: Homophobia
midnacine's review against another edition
Graphic: Ableism, Misogyny, Sexism, Murder, Gaslighting, and Classism
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, and War
jenna_justi2004's review against another edition
- 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
2.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Classism