Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

116 reviews

eva_vva's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Confinement, Medical trauma, Medical content, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, and Self harm

Moderate: Alcohol, Misogyny, Racism, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, and Sexism

Minor: Abandonment, Infertility, Drug use, Racial slurs, and Body shaming

nightisareader's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I’ll divide this review into two sections: one that I’m clear on, and the second that confuses the hell out of me.
Section one:
What I absolutely adored about this book is the stream of consciousness writing style. It was neatly tied together and everything found its end nicely. The vocabulary was a bit meh but I guess it works. The book was quite... American? I don’t know honestly, I’m too Asian  for it probably so, reading things like “...he was trying to prove he could be aesthetic...” had me cringe just a little bit. But that’s on me haha. The characters were realistic, the events as well, without any... poetic layer. Yeah, let’s call it that.
Oh and the lovely analogies! I did wish they were explained a bit more but it’s fine, I guess, since the tone of the book was not complimentary to huge descriptions that creep up your body and gently sink themselves into your skin. 

Section two:
Now this part is about Esther herself and do I like her character or not? The answer WAS a big fat no but then she sorta grew on me but I still dislike her. Why? There I’m a bit lost; not completely though. The girl was racist and hateful. My friend pointed out that being hateful is a depression thing which lead to an odd question where even now I’m wondering if her racism and hate is justified by her mental condition but I’m choosing to not ponder over it for too long.

Overall, the book is a tiny bit overhyped but it has its charms.
One thing though, I do not know what kind of readers I would recommend this to because for some it would be triggering, for some unrelatable, and I’m a tiny bit concerned for those who do find it relatable (minus the cracks that let in the light of hope)
What I will say is that if you pick up the book, make sure you learn from her, not the methods to succumb but the methods to survive in the bell jar.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Drug abuse, Blood, Racism, Death, Death of parent, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

vikart's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

Minor: Death of parent and Blood

annamgoodman's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Death of parent, Blood, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Death, and Forced institutionalization

grey_writes_love's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

I would not have finished this book if it was not assigned to me. I never had any reason to root for Esther, or even to like her, save that the alternative was her death. Also, the consistent racism was a huge turnoff.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Drug abuse, and Suicide

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Medical content, Death of parent, Death, Sexism, Sexual violence, and Racism

Minor: Incest, Violence, Vomit, Alcohol, Child death, and Pregnancy

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Death, Dysphoria, Body horror, Blood, Body shaming, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Medical trauma, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, and Mental illness

Minor: Racism, Sexual violence, Bullying, Sexual assault, Sexism, Pregnancy, Gun violence, Medical content, Incest, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Religious bigotry, Rape, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Death of parent, and Sexual content

cturn's review against another edition

dark reflective sad 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

3.0

Characters- 8
Atmosphere- 6
Writing- 9
Plot- 8
Intrigue- 4
Logic- 7
Enjoyment- 6

CAWPILE score: 6.8

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Infidelity, Pregnancy, and Blood

Minor: Death of parent

letheii's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

rip sylvia plath you would have loved mitski

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Forced institutionalization, and Mental illness

Moderate: Death and Vomit

Minor: Death of parent and Racism

allydoessomereading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

I think Sylvia plath knows my life exactly. I don't think I've ever read my own thoughts and feelings be explained so beautifully and precisely like Plath does. Her writing is so vibrant and poetic, even when she is discussing some very heavy topics. Its amazing that she was able to discuss the female experience so ruthlessly in the time that she did. Its insane that this book from years ago is the first ive read with passages that have made me feel so seen and understood in a way i havent felt before. I think this book found me at both the best and worst time, either way I know it's stuck with me for life. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Grief, Suicide attempt, Racism, Rape, Drug use, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Suicide

Minor: Body horror, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Xenophobia, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Hate crime, Death of parent, Alcohol, Lesbophobia, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Fatphobia, and Homophobia

ziggers's review against another edition

dark emotional relaxing slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Xenophobia