Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

1984 by Humberto Eco, Miguel Temprano García, George Orwell, George Orwell

199 reviews

pixiigirl's review against another edition

5.0

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Listened to this in one sitting start to finish because it grabbed my attention so much, and as someone with ADHD this never happens so I was very pleasantly surprised. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Child death, Drug use, Infidelity, Misogyny, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Alcohol, War, Classism

rory_john14's review against another edition

3.0

dark reflective 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body horror, Child death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Police brutality, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Racism, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Colonisation

alekslemoon's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Stalking, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, War

Moderate: Cursing, War

lightningmc_logyn's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense 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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A book so devastating, it can swing the reader back around to hope. I first read this in highschool, nearly a decade ago, and chose to read it again as I’d forgotten most of the books events. As a teenager it struck me, and I’ve displayed my copy on my bookshelves ever since. 

I am glad I re-read it. Orwell’s writing is masterful. The novel is a journey that is folded in on itself, details constantly evolving in light of new context. The reader feels the hope and despair Winston oscillates between. The plot is full of intrigue. It stays firm in its recount of horrid events as well as simple human joys. The parallels drawn to our world are startling. The passionate determination of Winston is palpable. Orwells mind has created a world that is not only real within its pages, but persists in one’s subconscious afterward. 

This book is intelligent and poignant. The themes discussed and analyzed are intentionally parallel to our society. The awareness this book awakened in me as a teen and distilled once again as an adult is something I am grateful for-though the reading experience is quite emotionally turbulent.  The story is dark, startlingly so, and I recommend reading it with care.

The latter third was painful for me to read, and the torture Winston endures and what he becomes is frightening.

The version I read has an afterward that I enjoyed, as it handles the dark subject matter honestly, but leaves the reader with a small branch of hope. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Rape, Colonisation

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide

This is a dark book where violence, war, and oppression are normalized and upheld. The main character endures dark situations and entertains dark thoughts, largely due to the oppressing society he lives in.

ninajune's review against another edition

4.0

dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Forced institutionalization, Colonisation, Classism

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

bernardblack's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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This was my first audio "book", and I won't lie to you and say "I didn't listen to this because I'm gay for Andrew Scott!!" because I very much did go into it with that mindset. That being said, I love Andrew Scott's villain performances, but as I was laying in my room at 1 am in intentional-complete-darkness with my noise cancelling headphones on and my eyes closed (I took immersive a bit too seriously), listening to the final 40 mins of this. I felt my skin crawl, like I was afraid to move, as if I was paralyzed, every second was horrifying and I loved it.

Regardless of Andrew though, I love books that pull apart at themes that feel so fucking relevant right now. I essentially went in blind. I was wary of audio books because I love tangible books, my partner prefers audiobooks and so with such a impressive cast (Tom Hardy and Chukwudi Iwuji are also actors I really love to see/hear) I gave in. Originally I intended to read the book first then listen, but time got away from me and I just went for it. I'm so glad I did, I reacted so naturally, the twists and fear of not knowing what would happen next was exhilarating!! I'm now reading the physical copy to underline my favorite lines and take notes, but I'm so grateful to myself for listening first. I have to say Andrew Garfield really blew me away, his talent, his emotion, he really embodied Winston in a way I can't quite put into words. I'm trying and even now I'm floored by how talented he is. He brought the story to life.

Also the music, the two composers (one of which is the frontman of Muse) for the soundtrack score really hit different. I love 80s music, specifically New Wave synth. The moment when those synthesizers hit my ears I knew they understood the assignment. I did some research and not only was this recorded at Abbey Road Studios (I'm a Beatles fan) but they used real synthesizers from the 80s!! With the intention of capturing nostalgia and looking towards the future in one cohesive sound.

Finally back to the bare bones of this story. Totalitarianism, fascism, a oppressive, manipulative government, censorship?? Why does it all feel so familiar. I think what I couldn't stop thinking about was the work being done in the Ministry of Truth. The way history, records of event, books, films, poems, all get destroyed and replaced by something The Party deems appropriate. I couldn't stop thinking about book bans, book burnings, and the censorship of history in schools. Something very prevalent in my current state. I even spoke to my parents about this book and book bans and even they were gaslighting me, saying "it's for the best" and that "it's to protect children/the next generation".

I really understood how Winston was feeling, being surrounded by individuals who are so blind to what is in front of them or actively choose to repeat harmful rhetoric to push that ideology. It's torturous.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Death of parent, War

kaz_brekkerrr's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Murder

Minor: Death, Sexual violence, War

charliecarey's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark reflective tense 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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idk if anyones ever said this but this was very orwellian

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting

sunflower7skull's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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i found this book really interesting. perhaps not as horrifying as i expected, but the worldbuilding was quite impressive and im glad i read it. i'd had it on my list for a long time and my favorite part of trading it was the interesting dystopian political commentary!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, War

Minor: Homophobia

kieraparsonss's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Classism