Reviews tagging 'Lesbophobia'

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

89 reviews

ryan_rajp'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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol

marissasa's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I'm glad I finally got around to reading this classic, as it has the best and most realistic description of depression I've ever read. It was alarmingly realistic with how much I could relate to Esther's feelings, mental illness, and sentiments about her future, especially in the beginning of the book, but makes sense when you take in the context that this is a roman a clef with mostly true occurrences from Plath's life. Even the small things, not just the obvious existential dread and depressive outlook, were so relatable and accurate to being a mentally ill and directionless young woman in her 20s. The way Esther walked 40+ blocks back to her hotel alone in the dead of night because she didn't want to pay for a cab and because she didn't care if anything happened to her, was genuinely something I did multiple times in college for the same reasons. The main character is flawed and sometimes even a bad person, but she is nuanced and complex just as struggling women are in real life. The things she goes through are harrowing and tense, but we do get to see the progress from her descent into mental illness to her eventual improvement and potential release from the psych ward, and I think that was a meaningful decision that only further humanizes her. In addition, the prose, imagery, and overall writing is beautiful. I specifically loved every metaphor and simile Plath used to describe her bleak outlook on her future: "I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story", "I saw the years of my life spaced along a road in the form of telephone poles, threaded together by wires", and "I saw the days of the year stretching ahead like a series of bright, white boxes, and separating one box from another was sleep, like a black shade." Similar to other poets who have written novels, you can just tell how they have such a masterful command over the language and can string together words into the most beautiful sentences. The only thing stopping this book from being a 5 star read for me is the fact that there are some racist comments and slurs that were typical of white people in the 50s (and frankly today too, sigh). While I recognize that it was a different time back then and that certain things seen as wrong today were unfortunately normalized, I think it's important to not ignore them completely and still factor in those things when you are critically reading, rating, and reviewing a book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Homophobia and Lesbophobia

halcyonkathryn's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Xenophobia, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Eating disorder, Cultural appropriation, and Classism

lindsbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Racism and Lesbophobia

Minor: Homophobia

marjoleinvanderspoel's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

Hmmmm. I do think it's well written and some of the lines hit so hard but! Its racist and homophobic and hurtful and triggering af and why does no one talk about this??

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Body shaming, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, and Toxic friendship

orndal's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective fast-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

so esther's a certified lesbian and also a femcel

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Death, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

mermaidsherbet's review against another edition

dark funny reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol

anotherbookwithtee's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Lesbophobia

befreckledbookworm's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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

4.25

i chose to read this for an assignment in my ap literature class. i usually enjoy books with mental health as a major theme and i definitely enjoyed this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

carolinacortez's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

Me tarde sigloooos en acabar este libro, y es que la verdad si es complicado de leer, sobre todo la primera mitad del libro, muchas veces no entendía que estaba pasando, ni entendía los brincos en la historia que daba Sylvia (ahora uqe se un poco más del contexto en el que fue escrita la novela, puedo entender un poco mejor), eso sí Esther (la protagonista) es super relatable sobre todo al momento de tratar la crisis que tenentra al acabar la prepa y el que vas a hacer con tu vida, la segunda mitad del libro que es en la que se trata la salud mental, es la parte más fuerte y, en mi opinion, la mejor parte, esta se lee con más agilidad y más fluidez.

una de las cosas negativas que le vi a la novela,es el racismo enorme por parte de Esther, para la página 10 ya había varios slurs, y conforme iba leyendo cada vez se me hacía más incomodo, así que eso es algo que tener en cuenta.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical content, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Xenophobia, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail