Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

212 reviews

haileyeh's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Blood, Suicide attempt, Violence, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Death

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Sexual content, Misogyny, Vomit, Sexism, Lesbophobia, Medical content, and Fatphobia

samcsmith's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Medical content, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Misogyny, Racism, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Gun violence, Alcohol, Body shaming, Vomit, Ableism, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

natalie_j202's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Suicide

isabezza's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

5.0

It is astonishing that a novel about mental illness and the position of women in the 1950s spoke to me so deeply as a reader in 2023. Perhaps I should not have read this book as someone who has experienced suicide in the family and been admitted to hospital for mental illness, but ultimately I have never read a book which represents that experience so explicitly. I am grateful the systems have changed and the horrors Plath and others may have faced in the name of psychology are devastating to think of. Yet her writing described their society so eloquently that I could not put it down. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Torture, Medical content, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Suicide, and Death

alysian_fields's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Medical trauma, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Sexual content, Racism, and Suicide

samugranjo's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

4.25

When I was younger I had a very hard time with depression, now almost 10 years later I still have intense depressive episodes with terrifying thoughts but it's much more manageable. This book has probably the best depiction of depression, suicidal thoughts and burnout that I have ever read. I have never felt so understood, and at the same time so glad about how many things that I would have related to in the past are no longer part of my everyday experience. On top of this, the fig analysis has been a guide and a help through the last years of my life, making me remind myself that not taking action in making decisions is also a choice itself with its own consequences.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Blood, and Mental illness

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Death, and Sexual content

Minor: Alcohol, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Racial slurs, and Death of parent

There's descriptions of bad medical practices with mentally ill patients, including a detailed shock treatment session. There's also a reference to a lobotomy.

veliana's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Mental illness, and Blood

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Death, Infidelity, Medical content, Toxic friendship, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy

Minor: Sexual content, Sexism, and Misogyny

easyrevenge's review against another edition

medium-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? Yes

3.75

it ended before i even knew it began. not sure what i was expecting from this book, but i was neither disappointed nor delighted

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Sexual content, Racism, Racial slurs, and Mental illness

maddalenacesco's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

3.75

rip Sylvia you would’ve loved folklore by ts 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Mental illness, Death, Body shaming, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

lottie_xxx's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

4.5

Beautiful prose full of eloquent description. A challenging read in parts, due to Plath’s rawness. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Sexual content, Self harm, Racism, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, and Suicide

please be aware there is talk of suicide, suicidal ideation and self harm, with half of the book based within a mental health hospital