Reviews with content warning for Suicide attempt - The Bell Jar

This book holds an incredibly special place in my heart. If you’ve never read anything by Plath, make sure you read this book. So much of what Esther was going through, I either went through myself or watched others close to me experience something similar. To me, this book felt like a warm hug, we are not alone in this world and we are all more alike than we seem. It’s incredible to me that this book came out so long ago and bravo to Plath for shedding light on such a topic.

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janabananaaaa's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny tense fast-paced

Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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lgood163's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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aimeevictoriap's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-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

4.5

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thewildeausten's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad 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

4.0

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kirbyii's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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vikart's review against another edition

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emotional reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.0

"The Bell Jar" has been one of my most confusing reads as of this year. The entire time of reading I felt as if I were on an acid trip. It is a story about a girl by the name Esther who, unfortunately, finds herself falling into suicidal thoughts.

Although, I cannot say that I hated this book, I also cannot state that it was one that I thoroughly enjoyed. Therefore, I will sperate my pros and cons into some bullet points.

Pros:

The main character had opinions that stemmed from her upbringing. They place very good questions upon the societal norm of women and men, and their roles.
I noticed a line that, if my memory serves me correct, appears within the book "Cozy" by Isabel Gillies. The line in question:
"There must be quite a few things a hot bath won't cure, but I don't know many of them."
This isn't a big pro, but it did put a smile on my face.
The comparisons within this book came out as very unique to me.

Cons:

It felt as if some of the actions that the main character took were completely illogical even when you compare it to her state of mind.
Scene changes felt confusing at times. It'd take you a minute to realize that a new scene has set into place. This made me reread a lot of parts.
Although the main character is placed in different places to get help the book does not illustrate her getting any legitimate help from anybody.

Other notes:

There's a contradiction between the beginning and end.
Within the beginning of "The Bell Jar" Esther mentions that she cannot gain weight whenever eating food. She can eat as much as she wants, however near the end of the book she is shown to put on weight.

That's all. Thanks for the read. A lot more can be analyzed and discussed about this book, but I doubt anybody will have the time to read all that, so if you did read all of this: you are magical.

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