Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

1984 by George Orwell

83 reviews

jenna_justi2004's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative sad tense slow-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

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

james1star's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• 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

3.0

How to summarise my thoughts? Umm… I honestly don’t know! I didn’t necessarily enjoy 1984 but I respected its importance and impact I’d say. In Orwell’s novel we follow Winston Smith who lives in London in a dystopian 1984 where ‘the Party’ and ‘Big Brother’ is always watching you, controlling you, controls the past, present and future. Smith commits thought-crime amongst other things and Yhh I don’t want to explain the plot too much but basically it’s his journey. 

What I did like was the tension and eggarness to read on in how Orwell writes. The world building is continuous and vivid that you can theorise this dystopian world with pretty realistic characters. However, I personally though this detail and repetition of certain events, ideas, ‘facts’ and the like are very tiering and long. This was very apparent in Goldstein’s thesis being plastered into the middle of the book taking up a huge chunk of repetition that is seemingly never-ending that I despised. Why was it so long and drawn out? No thank you! Also, the characters do all lack depth and a likeness so in some sense you don’t care about what happens to them no matter how horrible it is - but then again they do live in a world built on terror and control so to find positivity is hard enough… but Yhh I didn’t warm to them. They’re also kinda annoying but I was still intrigued enough to read on. A LOT of it was also quite confusing with contradictory phrases and stuff I dunno - yes this was good in terms of world building the messed up nature of the society and party but still my brain was a bit whirled up. 

Overall, I didn’t like the story, plot or characters (not really my vibe) and was far too repetitive and long in my opinion. However, it was written mostly well, kept me intrigued and has became a staple due to its importance where many takes and comparisons to ‘our world’ can be made. So a solid 3 starts from me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Torture

Moderate: Body horror, Blood, Misogyny, War, Gore, and Murder

Minor: Sexual violence, Rape, Classism, and Alcoholism

sadiaa's review against another edition

dark reflective tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Body horror, Cursing, Violence, Blood, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, and Torture

southcarolina's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• 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

4.75

We feel that we are paper, choking on you nightly.

You would be hard-pressed to find a book more immediately engaging than 1984. The worldbuilding is paced perfectly, firstly offering us glimpses of Winston’s small rebellions such as keeping a diary. We get to see his daily life under Big Brother and the challenges he faces before the main plotline starts. This immediately hooked me in, as I felt the book unfolded naturally and the city was easy to picture in my mind. I was able to connect to his struggles, and the pace ramps up naturally rather than a sudden shock to the system.


We’re put into Winston’s perspective, and I found not having been spoiled was thrilling. Being unsure on who to trust, was novel, and I wasn’t expecting the eventual betrayal to come from a certain character. During one part of the book, specifically the brotherhood scene, I did feel it was too good to be true. I’m glad the writing didn’t treat the audience like a fool and my suspicions were very clearly founded. 


The last portion of the book is incredibly disturbing, but after the attention given to the cruelty of the party, it feels deserved and not out of left field. The ending is especially impactful, as you can feel Winston’s thoughts have been completely tangled. The narration is inconsistent intentionally, and I think it made a great impact.


Orwell has a very direct writing style, typically favouring shorter sentences, with the occasional long line for impact. He doesn’t need to bloat the text with unnecessary language, and it was a joy to read and put myself in Winston’s shoes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, War, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Torture

Minor: Classism

toodeadtoread's review against another edition

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

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

mickymouse_007's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

My god.... this was a hard read. Not in a bad sense but this soaked up all the happiness in me and left be shocked, rooted to the spot. And I love it for every thing it is. 
Did I expect this to hit this hard? No. Was I prepared for this flawed masterpiece? No. Do I regret reading this? Also no. 
I love the layers of this book. It makes you cry a bit. Just like an onion. I am never really fond of sci fi or dystopian books but this book changed my perspective. It was a really dense book and I think people should at least have a basic idea of the book and its themes before jumping into it because it could be triggering to some folks (especially volume 3). 
I love the world Orwell created and used the political references in his time to write it. It's so shocking and dark and dull and creepy. And it's such a big red flag and serves as a warning for all of us. 
I hate this book for destroying me though (Do I have to explain?) 
I knew that I would give this book a 5 star rating but vol 3 chapter 2 especially sealed the rating- I had no control over it from that point on. I was crying but no tears came out and my heart was thumping in my chest. 
Overall, I love it. definitely recommend. I will read this again and again and again just to understand it on a more deeper level. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Torture, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Body horror, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Slavery, and Police brutality

Minor: Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent

stardustdreamer's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Classism, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Body horror, Police brutality, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: War, Alcoholism, Blood, and Sexual content

Minor: Misogyny, Vomit, Death of parent, and Rape

manu_k's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

Beautifully horrifying, this book is a ride from start to finish. We know it has been a cornerstone for the dystopian fiction genre, but reading it makes me realize just how much this book has shaped this genre.

On the writing style: I thought it was very beautifully written, descriptive but not very much so, the exact kind of thing I like. The way it was written and the analogies and the non - linear storytelling in some parts came together so well, it was immersive in the best way.

On the story:

the first part was almost boring, which I thought was the point. It showed us how the regime worked, some background to Winston, but didn't actually contribute to advancing the story line as such. The second part was much more fast paced and actually exciting in regards to the advancement of the story, and by far some of the chapters in this part are my favorites. I didn't appreciate the whole 'I love you' debacle in the beginning, but I guess it shows how much sexually and emotionally repressed these people are. I believe it seems very fitting that Julia is introduced as a central character at the start of the second part and her role ends at the end of the second part. The third part was one of the most difficult parts to get through, despite me having experience with reading torture scenes (I read The Surgeon when I was 15, it still haunts me). It was brutal no holds barred kind of writing, with the descriptions, O'Brien's almost - almost - loving teacher like treatment of Winston, and then the change in the way of Winston's thinking, how different it was from the other two parts. The ending was surprising to me, despite knowing that it won't end happily as other dystopian books I have read.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Violence, Sexism, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Classism, Cursing, War, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Gun violence, Gore, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Alcoholism, Slavery, Sexual violence, Rape, and Vomit

sandy_21's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Torture, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Sexual content, War, and Body horror

Minor: Rape, Stalking, and Suicidal thoughts

sofieskj's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.25

This book is not what i would typically read, however it was alright. I found it to be waht i would say boringly intresting. This is a pretty absurd book. The things happing in the book is a much more abusert way of thing that can/ is happing today. I have my thieris of things happening in the book. I wish i never got the answers to with is pretty facsinating. I would say that as a book it self i would rered it, mustly becuse of the language and how long it would actually take me to read it. But i do find the stroy intresting and therefor it can be a book that i happen to reread in the futrere as it is always going to relevent book to our world today. This book was sliglhty difficult to get through, the majority of the book i lisend to it with aduio while following  in the book, If it werent for that i would probebly use a long time to finsih it. I was also slightly demotivatet to read as it was a book for english, and i had to read it. I do recomend this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, War, Torture, Suicide, Slavery, Sexual content, Rape, Murder, Violence, Body horror, Death of parent, and Death