Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn

11 reviews

ninasloft's review against another edition

challenging funny reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Definitely a must-read for logophiles & those with an unquenchable passion for words & the English language. I don't consider myself largely able to read or speak in complex terms, however I really enjoyed the word play & the enthusiacally eccentric way they speak in the book. If you've ever seen the episodes containing Paige Sinclair from Bojack Horseman, that is how I imagine the characters in this book to speak & I personally adore it. Definitely not everyone's cup of tea, but a wonderful book with a unique, interesting idea. My only wish is that it were a little longer so that we as the reader were able to connect more deeply to the characters. A strong recommendation nonetheless, especially for those who are fond of the writing style such as myself, I foun  it to be a fun & quick read. Although it glosses over some intense subject matter, which might be off-putting to some.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deportation and Police brutality

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Death, Death of parent, Violence, and Ableism

eliisar's review

challenging funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Very clever and funny. Original story, the author executed it well. I liked flipping between the Council notices and regular letters to find where exactly they used forbidden letters. It was fun to see how much I missed, and how easy it was to miss. It did get a bit confusing near the end as more letters fell. I had to reread sentences multiple times to understand what they were saying, but all in all it was an enjoyable read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Ableism, Death, and Suicide attempt

annaavian's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

1.0

This book attempts to portray itself as something deep and thought-provoking, but ultimately falls flat. While the book's characters write clever and emotive letters, they're still just letters, leading to a pedantic recounting of events. As a result, the characters have no life or vibrance, and the reader is left with nothing but the dull experience of reading letters from strangers. 
There are many better books that explore similar themes of totalitarianism, censorship, free speech and the power of language in more captivating and inspirational ways. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry and Police brutality

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, and Violence

Minor: Ableism and Suicide

teddydore's review against another edition

dark funny sad tense 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Ableism and Racial slurs

lillowo's review

emotional sad fast-paced

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

2.75

This was a really interesting book and I got a lot of allusions to the Holocaust while reading it. At first I thought that this was just a simple children's book but the more I read the more I saw that this had a very deep lesson as well. It doesn't happily which is quite nice! And a little funny as well.
I am not the biggest fan of the letter format especially near the end as it does get hard to read (as I imagine it was hard to write). 

And there is the use of a slur towards disabled people in the book. This is why I tagged the book with ableism as there is not the tag abelist slur accessible to me here.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism

blackcvrrant's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Racial slurs and Ableism

The word g

ypsy

is used once, a term that is a racial slur for Romani people; the word r

etarded

is also used once.

cheye13's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Deportation and Suicide attempt

Minor: Police brutality, Ableism, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Violence, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

The R slur is used in casual passing on pg 131 (hardback edition). Most other tags relate to the enforcement and punishments with regard to the illegal letters. Being epistolary, there is a casualness and distance from the actual events described.

razorfangz's review against another edition

dark funny reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Absolutely one of the most creative books I've read recently. More books that take on unconventional formats that also align really well with the plot please! A very funny but still very sharp take on religious bigotry and fascism, and it makes you read each letter very carefully to make sure the characters don't get the death sentence. My main complaint is that the ending feels rather unsatisfying to me, but I'll let you decide for yourself whether it's fitting or not.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Self harm, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, and Suicide

Moderate: Addiction and Alcoholism

Minor: Racism and Ableism

Ableism and racism tags are due to the use of the R slur and G slur, though they're only used once.

leanneymu's review against another edition

challenging funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.75

A really interesting idea for a story, but the restrictions of the language (and the verbosity of the characters) made it feel more like a writing exercise than a fully-fledged narrative. I think that epistolary novels often foster a bit of emotional distance from the characters, which makes it difficult for me to connect with them.  Still, the ideas where compelling, and the themes of censorship were dealt with in an engaging way. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Ableism, Torture, and Suicide attempt

l_nolastname's review against another edition

challenging funny fast-paced

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

4.5

4.4/5 Stars *CW: R••••••• Slur on p.133*

I dislike George Orwell's writing (all one has to do is read my reviews to find out just how much I dislike him lol), but without his dry ass satirical fascist manuals pretending-to-be novels, we wouldn't have the Orwellian trope. Ella Minnow Pea is an epistolic, fast-paced, Orwellian-esque novella. And Mark Dunn is a verbalist master. Once again 1984 is improved upon. I do hope that Dunnism catches on and fanciful-fascism becomes the new norm for the oligarchical dystopian genre.

p.s. If you'd like to read another wholesome 1984-esque story try Felix Salten's Bambi A Life In The Woods

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism

*CW: R••••••• Slur on p.133*