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Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Blood, Suicide attempt
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Suicide, Blood, Vomit
Moderate: Death, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt
Minor: Body shaming, Racism, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Lesbophobia
It's 1953 and 19 year old Esther Greenwood is slowly having a breakdown after finishing her summer job in New York. We follow Esther as she looks back at her time at school and as she moves forward in her recovery in an asylum.
~Review~
I'm treating this book as I would a memoir and not giving it a star rating as it felt a little inappropriate due to the subject matter, and also the parallels that this book draws from the author's real life. But I hope that my review will still highlight my feelings towards the novel.
This book is so immersive and I really enjoyed the slightly chaotic writing style. The back and forth writing style is almost mimicking how Esther is feeling. I was really drawn in by Esther's story and was very quickly invested.
I think this book is an important read when it comes to the history of women's mental health. It's a heartbreaking account of how many women suffered during that time. And it also gives an interesting look at both the positives and negatives of what the treatments were like.
The Bell Jar is a beautiful, haunting and sometimes painful look at the human psyche. And what makes this book even more haunting are the parallels between Esther's and Plath's stories.
Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Death, Self harm, Sexual content, Vomit
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Suicide attempt
Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Homophobia, Racism
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Antisemitism, Suicide attempt
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt