Reviews with content warning for Sexual violence - The Bell Jar

This book is really overrated on social media, but it’s still really good. The first half is honestly quite dry in my opinion, but the second half is really interesting. The way Esther develops relationships with all the characters was my favorite part, along with her neat viewings on the world. I also really liked how Plath separated scenes in a chapter.

Content Warnings

callmeash's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

5.0

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.

Content Warnings

matcha_cat's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

3.75

Content Warnings

katanai's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark sad tense slow-paced

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

2.75

i think the last quarter of this book really boosted my rating. honestly, there were several times i put this book down & considered placing it in DNF. the racist remarks were something that i was utterly unprepared for & they had no place in this book. it was just odd how racist & homophobic plath was. anyway, besides that, the first half of this book was quite boring, & i felt as if her descent into madness was a little out of nowhere. but then, sometimes, that's how madness happens, unfortunately. i did tear up at some points during her stay at the mental health institutions but i think i just got triggered due to personal connection to people who have been at institutes. also, the protagonist was just... unlikeable & not in a good way. i can see why it's a classic, but at the same time, i think it is a little overhyped. glad to just finally be done.

Content Warnings

emerlees's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Content Warnings

katie69's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional reflective 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

3.5

Content Warnings

hannahnwalding's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark 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? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Content Warnings

fruitsaladsk's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

The story on it’s own was good, very interesting and reflective, quite relatable. Though there were a lot of blatantly racist moments that were quite off putting.

Content Warnings

More...