Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

בעל זבוב by William Golding

43 reviews

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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dark sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

this book is not what i was expecting. 

this book is disturbing. it starts out with a few innocent boys ages 4-12 who are stranded on an island, not aware of the war going on around them. as the novel progresses, the boys divide and turn into straight savages. even though the author is not a christian, this book has much biblical allusion. simon is a Christ figure. the very title lord of the flies refers to beelzebub or satan. this book highlights loss of innocence and man’s inherent evil. 

this book is so heavy. i can’t help but feel bad for the boys, even jack. they have been so corrupted to the point that death does not phase them. they are desensitized to murder. i genuinely cried while reading this which is crazy because i have to read it for school. the author did a great job of displaying the horrendous things he saw during his time in world war ii and his years of teaching at an all boys boarding school. this book is a parody of sorts on coral island, showing that a bunch of boys being stranded on an island is actually the farthest thing from paradise. 

i think this book is so disturbing because it would be a reality. the sweet innocent boys at the beginning turn into complete and total monsters. the author perfectly captured the built in evil of mankind. now i’m going to be sad thinking abt this book for a while. 

justice for piggy and simon 🥲

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adventurous dark tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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dark reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

quite slow at times but otherwise interesting - cute gay undertones too?? slay

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dark tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I'll be honest.... I got bored halfway through and the ending just seemed.... meh.

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adventurous challenging reflective tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

i liked this way more than i expected to! i haven’t read a classic (outside of rereads) in years so i thought the prose would give me a headache but i actually found it quite charming. it does get a little waffly at some parts but i guess cause i know it was written like a million years ago i have a higher tolerance for it. 

i love the premise and i think the pacing was perfect for me. it felt a little slow in the first half (or longer im not quite sure) and then picked up fast like the calm before the storm. i do wish there was a little more development with the characters - at some points i was having a hard time figuring out who was speaking, too - but it wasn’t a massive issue with this since it still holds up quite well. it’s darker than i expected for a children’s book, but that’s what made it so hard for me to put down. the overall message was pretty bleak but i think the ending helped a lot.

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Not sure I've ever had much interest in reading this, only I had a specific book I wanted to get to that's inspired by this - Lord of the Flyfest- (as well as some TV shows, films etc that takes inspiration from this classic) and wanted a better appreciation when the time comes.

Reminiscent of Peter Pan and the lost boys and some really good character analysis of humanity as a whole when faced with struggles. How we try to achieve this collective control at all times but quickly fall down to hysteria and paranoia when faced with the unknown.

I felt like this was a really interesting look at life with an island of stranded boys and how they try to survive the wilderness. 

I know a lot of this probably went over my head and that reflects in the rating as I didn't understand all the themes, but I'm glad I read this.



Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark emotional reflective sad 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

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