Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

152 reviews

ravensandlace's review against another edition

challenging dark informative slow-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? Yes

2.0

Title: 1984

Author: George Orwell

Genre: Adult Dystopia

Format: my own paperback book

Star Rating: 2.5 stars

tw: misogyny, antisemitism, war, parental death, assault, burning, torture, mind control

So, I read this book back in high school, over 10 years ago. I know, I am old. I remember thinking “Oh this is such a good book!” I also felt really proud of myself for reading an “adult” book. Up until that point, I had normally read young adult books. I found a beautiful paperback edition, while I was thrift shopping of course, and thought “Great! I’ll give this another go and see if it holds up!”

Ugh. This book sucked and I am so disappointed that I did not like it the second time around. Sure, the message was good. Big Brother is always watching, etc, etc. It’s a metaphor for the government and how if it goes left unchecked, bad things will happen. I get that. My problem was with the main character, Winston, and the ending. I’ll explain both. 

Winston is the absolute whiniest main character I’ve ever read about and I read Shadow and Bone (if you all have read that book, you know who I’m talking about). He wanted to kill a woman because he was attracted to her. Who does that?  In fact, he dislikes all women and had nasty things to say about them. He would constantly shit on women because they used their feminine wiles to get people to join some sort of group. He also had such an ego about him that was completely undeserved. He knew he wasn’t a catch but at the same time, still acted like he was better than everyone just because he didn’t think like the others.  

The ending made me so mad. This is going to be a spoiler of sorts so read this next paragraph if you don’t care about spoilers or if you have already read the book. We were made to root for Winston, fighting against the Party. That things were going to go well for the Rebellion and that maybe we would see the Party getting taken down. But no. Winson learns to love the party and therefore loves Big Brother due to mind control. I don’t remember if I liked the ending or not when I read it in high school. I really just remember being confused. But now, I’m just mad. Thank god I only spent like one dollar on this book.  

Overall, I believe this is an important book about government control. But don’t rely on Winston to be an example of how to defeat said government control. He is nothing but a whiny, misogynistic wuss. I still recommend this book. Just be prepared to be mad about the ending and about Winston.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Grief, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and War

francescazksxmc's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Slavery, Vomit, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Homophobia

mini_malist's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, and War

Minor: Suicide and Alcohol

palo17's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No

5.0

A pesar de ser escrito hace mucho tiempo, algunas cosas parecen reflejar problemáticas del mundo actual.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Moderate: Alcohol

meganpbennett's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

1984 is George Orwell's dystopian look at the future. Dystopias are drawn from the present, taking one or two things that are and exaggerate them until they become what could be. Some are more accurate than others, and the more accurate a dystopia, the scarier it tends to be, The surveillance state coming out of the Second World War and the Red Scare of the Cold War, all lead into the Telescreens, the retconning of history, Thought Police and Big Brother. 

1984 is a terrifying look at what could be. It was also not intended to be an instruction manual, but a look at what happens when things are taken far, far, far too far. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Excrement and Vomit

erin_forgie's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

This book is a tale of corruption. 
There are some vile comments on women: wanting to k*ll and r*pe them. 

Even after O’Brien mentally and Physically abusing Winston, Winston still idealises him

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

jenna_justi2004's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Classism

anna26's review against another edition

dark inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I hated Winston (the main character) because of the way he talks about and to women (he fantasises about rape and murdering women, etc) but aside from this "character flaw" (wich ultimately represents the way women are treated in this dystopian society, so it's fine) i really liked this book, it's somewhat inspiring but equally terrifying and overall really "entertaining" (as entertaining as a dystopian, terrifying novel can be)!!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Torture, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual violence, and Xenophobia

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Murder, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcohol

sadiaa's review against another edition

dark reflective tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, and Alcohol