Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

60 reviews

befreckledbookworm's review against another edition

medium-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

2.0

“Brave New World” is the last work I had to read for my AP Literature class and I think it beats “The Awakening” for the title of Worst Classic. Everything about this book disgusted me, from the world building to the treatment of indigenous cultures as a monolith and them being the “scourge” of society so to speak. I understand that Huxley was making commentary on the rise of fascism but that does not excuse the racism and lack of research when it came to proper representation. The research materials existed then, try putting them. Any ideology built around Freudian theory is an instant “no” from me, and any person who has taken a basic psychology class will agree with me. Freud was a disgusting man and the fact that his teachings became part of the belief system in this book should serve as a red flag. Same thing goes for the ideology also being built on the beliefs of Henry Ford, who was a massive anti-Semite and a disgusting capitalist. Needless to say, I hate this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Blood, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Medical content, Racism, Sexual content, and Suicide

lunaliz's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Xenophobia, Ableism, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Classism, Slavery, and Addiction

Moderate: Racism, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Rape, Racial slurs, Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Sexism

milenasbooknook's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Forced institutionalization, and Sexual content

Moderate: Suicide and Violence

Minor: Abortion, Body shaming, and Death of parent

miagw962's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

"But I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin."

Like most of the books that I read that absolutely blow me away, I find it hard to articulate exactly how I feel. Brave New World just struck a chord with me as soon as I started reading it. The intricacies of the dystopian world Huxley thought up in the 1930s is utterly bewildering. That was interesting enough for me but then came the story and the characters, the tragedy, the Shakespeare. I just am at a loss for words (as always). Just like to point out that John the Savage is one of the most interesting and complex characters I've ever read and I love him so much. He represents normalcy for us but 'savagery' for that society (also like to point out that the use of the word 'savage' is probably not appropriate, especially considering that John interacts with a community of Indigenous people - this book is a product of its time so it's good to keep that in mind). His inner conflict is outwardly shown through Huxley's beautiful prose - I actually do not know why but I cared about him so so deeply!!! And that's why the ending literally put me through the ringer. The tragedy of it all. There are so many truly poignant moments in this story that will stick with me for a long time. I wish I had something more interesting to say about this book and I'm sure if I was reading it for a high school English class I would! But I just really really enjoyed it, probably more than Orwell's 1984. Just something so familiar and unsettling about it - hearing about a world like this and envisioning it becoming a reality. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, Sexual content, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

rosinawrites7's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-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

4.0

In the common 1984 Vs Brave New World competition, Brave New World definitely wins for me! It's a much more engaging read and is more similar to current society. Huxley's imagination is incredible. Would definitely recommend - once you get your head around the first chapter or two, the story gets more gripping and I enjoyed the read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Classism, Colonisation, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Sexism, and Sexual content

Minor: Suicide, Terminal illness, Racism, Physical abuse, and Misogyny

meursault_letranger's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

I enjoyed it. It’s not as well written as the other famous dystopias it’s compared to, but I think its themes are more relevant.

The characters are usually pretty annoying (which is 100% understandable given the setting), but I really like John. He’s one of my favorite characters I’ve read recently.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Xenophobia, and Drug use

Moderate: Death of parent, Suicide, and Rape

hannah1734's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective fast-paced

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

3.75

Not a huge fan of classics, but this one hooked me. I didn't always agree with the perspective the author took (not to mention the blatant racism and sexism given the year this was published), but it felt surprisingly modern and I was intrigued by the story nonetheless. 
Thank you for the recommendation, Caroline! (Even tho I don't have her on Storygraph oops.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Racism, and Sexism

Moderate: Death of parent and Suicide

miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

3.0

Hmmm, hmmmm, im not sure i can communicate my feelings, perhaps an interpretive dance would be better

<<SPOILERS>>

No wait i wish we had some from iceland after he gets sent there?? Oh and also i hate it when books reference Shakespeare, it high key makes me quale with anger and idk why xx

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Abortion, Acephobia/Arophobia, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Suicide, and Xenophobia

crypteral's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

Holy shit! This is a wonderful book

There’s endless possible  interpretations of this book including:
1. It’s anti-capitalist  
2. It’s anti-communist
3. It’s about hedonistic utilitarianism 
4 it’s about authenticity 
5. It’s about challenging your views

Etc. 
And for this I find it absolutely intriguing! It reads more akin to a work on philosophy than an explicit dystopia.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use

Moderate: Pedophilia, Suicide, Sexual content, and Death

Minor: Death of parent

melissar's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Drug use, Sexual content, and Slavery

Moderate: Body shaming

Minor: Abortion and Suicide