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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: Death, Child death, Racial slurs, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Blood, War, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, and Sexism
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: Police brutality, Torture, and Violence
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: Classism, Death, Confinement, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Sexual content, and Torture
Moderate: Slavery, Vomit, War, Alcohol, and Pregnancy
Minor: Homophobia
midnacine's review against another edition
Graphic: Ableism, Classism, Sexism, Gaslighting, Misogyny, and Murder
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: Bullying, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Genocide, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Body horror, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Hate crime, Infertility, Misogyny, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Death, Drug use, Gore, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, Grief, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, and War
tiktakkodiak's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence and Torture
Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Classism, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Blood, Toxic friendship, Violence, Death, and Suicidal thoughts
toodeadtoread's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Classism, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Racism, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Confinement, and Body horror
Moderate: War, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol
Minor: Police brutality, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Confinement, Body horror, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Death, Racism, Slavery, Sexism, Sexual violence, Classism, Misogyny, War, Violence, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Murder, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Racial slurs, Rape, Emotional abuse, and Forced institutionalization
fujo_cat's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Classism, Violence, and Torture
Moderate: Gore, Death, Xenophobia, War, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Stalking, Medical content, Violence, and Body horror
Minor: Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Sexual content, Vomit, Child death, Animal cruelty, Slavery, and Kidnapping
f18'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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Medical trauma, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Classism, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, and Police brutality
Moderate: Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, and War
Minor: Sexual content, Gore, Rape, Racism, Excrement, Racial slurs, Fatphobia, Sexism, Antisemitism, Suicide, Murder, Child death, Slavery, Vomit, Alcohol, Ableism, and Fire/Fire injury
descriptions of hangings, child labor, tooth trauma,liagorash's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child death, War, Gore, Gaslighting, Death, Violence, Torture, Police brutality, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Genocide, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Bullying, Body horror, and Blood
Moderate: Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Death of parent, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Alcohol
Minor: Infidelity, Infertility, Slavery, Suicide, Rape, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Stalking