Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Le Bal des folles by Victoria Mas

8 reviews

picnicatthehangingtree's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

Engaging but felt underdeveloped and a bit half-baked. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Chronic illness, Forced institutionalization, Self harm, Rape, Suicide attempt, Medical content, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Dementia, Alcoholism, Grief, Classism, Blood, Child death, Murder, Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence

reginacattus's review

dark informative reflective medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexism, Ableism, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Chronic illness, Self harm, and Confinement

Moderate: Rape, Emotional abuse, Classism, Medical trauma, Medical content, Domestic abuse, and Death

stitchbooks22's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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? Yes

1.75

I was drawn to the cover of this book and the premise sounded interesting. However it was not well executed, did not deliver what was advertised and the story was pretty boring.

I nearly considered giving it 2 stars throughout the middle of the book as the writing was pretty good, despite the boring story and characters. But, unfortunately, the ending made me drop my rating down as it was not that good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Confinement, Ableism, Abandonment, Death, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Blood, Classism, Torture, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

joy_ong's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Abandonment, Rape, Classism, Forced institutionalization, and Medical trauma

Minor: Murder

emilunax's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Death, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, and Alcohol

lauramparis's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Body horror, Classism, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Death, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Physical abuse, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Rape, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual violence

house_of_hannah's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

I'm really not sure how to rate this. I honestly think my favorite part was looking up the history of the real Salpêtrière and Professor Charcot. I actually lived just a few minutes walk from the Salpêtrière for several years without realizing it. The history is what fascinates me, but the book itself leaves a bit to be desired.

This story is told in a very matter-of-fact way. There's nothing that's hidden or mysterious about the characters or the setting. Everything is laid out for the reader, and I think it causes the book to lose some heart.

This is a slow, character driven story that is quite light on actual plot. It takes place over the span of two and a half weeks, but it feels so much longer than that due to the pacing. Unfortunately, this story suffers from extremely convenient scenarios to push the plot forward, which makes everything very predictable. 

As the title is The Mad Women's Ball, I expected a lot more of the story to take place during the ball, or to have it be way more relevant than it actually was. In the end it just felt like another plot device with no life to it. 

This book is depressing; there's no way around that. I mainly felt stressed while reading this. I'm not happy with the conclusion, and it left me feeling a little lost ? There is an epilogue, but I honestly could have used one more chapter of the main story to prevent it from feeling so abrupt. This is not a long book, so the ending does feel rushed compared to how the rest of the story unfolded. 

Basically I have quite mixed feelings about this book. On one hand it introduced me to a history of Paris I did not previously know, but on the other I think the book itself could have been fleshed out so much more. In the end I think that leaves me with an average book where the history behind it is more intriguing than the fiction. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Sexual assault, Rape, Mental illness, and Classism

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Self harm

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

jmullins21's review against another edition

hopeful reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Very easy read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Suicide attempt, Classism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Kidnapping