Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

2198 reviews

m00dreads's review against another edition

4.0

dark reflective sad 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: Complicated

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Raise your hand if you’re a ‘gifted’-kid turned burnt-out clueless self-loathing mentally-ill adult. 🙋‍♀️

I’m a good handful of years older than Plath’s autobiographical protagonist, but wow I couldn’t have chosen a better time to read this book. Talk about maximum effect.

Forced levity aside (sorry guys, it’s the Tumblr-raised 90’s teen in me), The Bell Jar is a poignant account of what happens once the fever of constant perseverance towards exceptionalism finally breaks: a bitter sort of hollowness; which, for Esther Greenwood, was carved deeper by the suffocating trappings of 1950s American society and a clinical propensity to mental illness. Fortunately, under Plath’s steady and masterful prose, the grim, painful truth of it all is never rendered trite or sensationalized.

Subtracting one star because I refuse to condone the racism. “But the novel is a product of it’s time” yadda yadda yes yes I know. That doesn’t mean I was comfortable with it or that I didn’t find it utterly distasteful.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Suicide

gir1dinner's review against another edition

4.75

dark funny 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Racism

spaceghostyy's review against another edition

4.0

dark sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

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sad :(

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Blood, Suicide attempt

Minor: Sexual assault

annaslibrary0's review against another edition

3.5

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt

annabellachristen's review against another edition

4.5

dark 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt

real_zues's review against another edition

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I am black and right off the first chapter I’m reading a slur that the main character uses to describe her friend as an insult, which is crazy. On top of that the main character is so bitter and jealous of her friend getting hit on. I was going to give it a chance till I saw the reviews about her treatment of black, queer and fat people is weird and I realized I just can’t go through all that especially as a black queer person, call me childish or whatever but I am not the intended audience. side note: how is she depressed and still have the time to hate a marginalized group 💀

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide

torborgsdotter's review against another edition

4.0

emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Välskriven och äkta skildring av psykisk ohälsa. Man får ha överseende med att språkbruket bitvis är föråldrat och (med nutida ögon) olämpligt.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide attempt

Moderate: Racial slurs, Suicide

xthankyouplantbasedgodx's review against another edition

3.0

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

allison_henson's review against another edition

3.5

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt

elfo_dei_cracker's review against another edition

5.0

emotional reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt

Moderate: Racial slurs

Minor: Vomit