Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

101 reviews

carla20's review against another edition

dark reflective tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Alcoholism, Medical content, Slavery, Suicide, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Drug use, Death of parent, Addiction, Classism, and Child abuse

jchudson's review

challenging dark medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism and Drug use

Minor: Suicide

kokoberry's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual content, Vomit, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Grief, Infidelity, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Addiction, Misogyny, Suicide, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Self harm

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Cursing, Fatphobia, and Pregnancy

Minor: Abortion, War, and Animal death

cursed_sapphire's review

challenging dark informative tense slow-paced

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

4.5

The world and concepts are fascinating. If you can look past some of the dated ideas, you'll see a surprising amount of our world here. Huxley predicted some parts of our society too well. 

The characters are interesting but not likeable, I recommend knowing that going in. This book is an exploration of a potential future built on consumption, sameness, and constant pleasure. The characters are meant to embody different parts of humanity/society. Bernard is only content if he's more special than everyone else, Lenina wants more monogomy than is normal but otherwise accepts everything, Helmholtz is just kinda bored and wants to be a tortured poet, etc. John is supposed to be the last real person, representing a true believer in religion and art which cannot survive in this society. Mind you, John is a very 1930's Christian ideal of a true, good person. And while his obsession with suffering for his sins serves as a counter to the painless society of the book, it came across a bit overzealous for me. It felt like Huxley was trying to make John suffer all the pain everyone else never had to, but that made him feel a little too obsessed with pain instead of the virtues he claims to care about. The same could also be said about his obsession with chastity. 

This is a book more focused on ideas than on characters. The plot is a bit sparse, but that leads to a slice-of-life feeling, where the day-to-day life is the focus. There's a certain horror in the mundaneness that the characters experience, and that brings out the themes in a different, but still very effective way. 

Overall I recommend this for anyone who likes the philosophical side of sci-fi/dystopia, as long as they are able to handle the old-fashioned lense.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Child abuse, Addiction, and Suicide

Moderate: Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Racism, and Sexual harassment

gbentley's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

• 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Xenophobia and Drug use

Minor: Sexism and Suicide

honkinggoose's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Drug abuse, Suicide, and Addiction

Moderate: Body shaming and Classism

Minor: Gaslighting

sophia_teknoe's review

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Racism, and Suicide

n_degeorgia's review

challenging dark reflective

3.75

fascinatingly written in the 1930's as a sort of warning for a dystopian future that has...all but come to fruition? However, the proposed solution to this is based in very heavy stoicism undertones and Christianity/self denial/asceticism. 
Eugenics is horrifying and the opening inciting moment really caught my attention but the rest of the story casts sexual liberation and modern convenience as the pinnacle of all evil. Fascinating read but the politics and morality of the 1930's is loud and clear and I think a 2024 understanding of these issues is more nuanced!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Drug use, and Suicide

teawiththefates's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I understand it’s merit from a philosophical perspective but dang this was a miserable book. The three stars is based on my personal experience with it - fascinating in places, provoking deep thought about human nature and the things that shape us; then also upsetting and disturbing, both sides being equally unpleasant and repulsive. So, yeah, this book was a lot. It won’t be a book I revisit, but it will inspire some good conversation at bookclub I imagine.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Classism, Child abuse, Sexism, Body shaming, and Drug use

Moderate: Racism, War, Xenophobia, Fatphobia, and Suicide

theveleveteenrabbit08's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Seriously the best book I've ever read. Changed the way that I think about the modern world's luxuries and government. The world building is absolutely excellent and realistic, yet subtly terrifying at the same time. Characters' interactions aid this world building perfectly, immersing us in the minds and society of this 'brave new world'. If you are even the slightest bit interested in this book, READ IT! You won't regret your choice.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Grief, Medical content, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Death, and Self harm

Moderate: Alcohol, Suicide, Body shaming, Alcoholism, Murder, Sexual content, Mental illness, Infertility, and Blood

Minor: Pregnancy and Vomit