Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

13 reviews

riverofhorton's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

So this was actually my second read of this book, the first having been around 10 years ago. Just as I did the previous read through, I was struck by just how much of this book is relevant to our world today. This is one of the books that I will keep coming back to again and again throughout my lifetime.
The book itself is a somewhat dramatised (hopefully) version of Stalin's Russia/Nazi Germany. It has so many layers to it, and I', still not convinces I've worked out just how deep the 'Party' goes in their propaganda, gaslighting, and plotting against its own citizens.
This is an incredibly well planned out (or perhaps the word is researched) and realised world, where even the bits that are fiction could very easily be real. That, I think, is the true terror of this book: How easily society could go from even today's status, to that found in this book. Thus, Orwell's intention to have this book serve as a warning was fully realised.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Classism, Cursing, Death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Genocide, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Antisemitism, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Infertility, Medical content, Misogyny, Chronic illness, Infidelity, Mass/school shootings, Physical abuse, Suicide, Vomit, Acephobia/Arophobia, Addiction, Alcohol, Colonisation, Confinement, Deportation, Slavery, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Outing, Police brutality, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Torture, Trafficking, Grief, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, and War

cowardlyteaman's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.0

To be honest, I kind of feel like George Orwell gaslighted me. The first half of this book was just---bad. I didn't like it. Not in the slightest.

Winston would randomly get this urge to either rape or kill people who did nothing else but exist in his presence. It was tiring, not thought-provoking. I liked him much better in part three of the book, though! Ironically enough, maybe, but his whole character during part one and two was being a pig. That was completely out of focus during part three! Splendid.

Julia should have been removed entirely. I didn't like her in the beginning, and I didn't like her at the end. Her whole character was having sex and saying foul things. If you try too hard to make a character who's supposed to be controversial and rebellious, you end up with a character I only want to die in a pit.

O'Brien.🫶 He saved the book, to be honest. I genuinely believe that this book would have been 5 stars for me if Orwell had removed Julia and spent more time building on Winston and O'Brien's relationship instead.

All in all, I do believe that this book was worth it. I read it for history, and during the first half, I thought of this book as complete and utter bullshit. But at least I came to like it—really like it towards the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Classism, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Antisemitism, Racism, Body horror, Child death, Abandonment, Xenophobia, Fatphobia, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, and Rape

helenaruby's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Misogyny, Police brutality, Torture, Drug abuse, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual content, War, and Racism

accidentallyinlovefromshrek2's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Violence, and War

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Police brutality, Body horror, Murder, and Drug use

Minor: Racism, Rape, Xenophobia, and Sexism

laughingkatana's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

I completely understand why this book is a staple in the U.S., I understand the messages it hold, and I even see why people like it, but I did not enjoy the book even slightly. It is incredibly boring and drawn out. The author paints a tedious life through tedious writing and description. The only plus is how in depth the dive into the main characters thoughts and emotions is. I'm glad I read it, but honestly probably wouldn't recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, War, Torture, Violence, Alcoholism, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Classism, Colonisation, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Murder

elaa0907's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Drug use, Violence, and Sexism

Minor: Rape

You will find The first part incredibly boring, the second and third part however are fast paced and interesting with a lot of plot twists

sunshinesyst3m's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective 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

5.0

I’m very glad I picked up the audiobook, I’ve tried to read classics before but struggled to because the style they’re written in is hard for me to get into. Listening to it was much better though and I’ll have to do that for other classics I’ve been meaning to read. 

I’ve much enjoyed listening to this book and it made me think a lot about what the government in this book and the government for the country I live in have in common (a decent amount it seems, which isn’t a good look haha). The ending wasn’t exactly what I had hoped for but the book is meant to be realistic, so I do suppose the ending does make sense. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Body horror, and Torture

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Lesbophobia, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Homophobia, Genocide, Racism, Antisemitism, Infertility, and Rape

Minor: Drug use

mdugas's review against another edition

challenging 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

While important to read for the cultural significance and interesting moral dilemma behind it, I wasn’t a big fan of this book. It was a bit repetitive and some parts were a bit too slow for me.

The psychological torture may have been realistic for the scenario but it was too graphic for me.

Overall not bad writing, just not my cup of tea. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, and Torture

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Drug use, Deportation, Abandonment, Ableism, and Misogyny

This book may be triggering if you struggle with trauma relating to privacy, paranoia, and sexual assault, among other things.

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

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