Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

Las Virgenes Suicidas by Jeffrey Eugenides

78 reviews

quejk25's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Ableism

Minor: Racism and Racial slurs

komiification's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Man. I really wanted to like this book, but jesus christ it's just so fucking boring. It just goes on and on and on, and maybe it's the point, the slow drawl to the inevitable but christ it's BORING. And for what— the blurb really summarises everything you need to know.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Grief, Mental illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Child death, and Sexual content

Minor: Ableism

issyt's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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

I loved how it was told from the male gaze. It meant that the story was haunting and we know very little about the Lisbon sisters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Sexual content, and Suicide

Minor: Ableism

adelleworldwide's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism and Misogyny

lindsayerin's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, and Misogyny

Moderate: Medical content and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Racial slurs

_taylorsian's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death, Child death, and Grief

Moderate: Self harm

Minor: Racial slurs and Ableism

withlivjones's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

2.5

I really wanted to enjoy this book. The premise is intriguing and the prose is very well-written, but overall this book is just about a group of grown men looking back at and obsessing over five teenage girls who were very clearly suffering, and that made it very difficult to get through. 

Eugenides’ writing style is very poetic. His descriptions so vividly convey the setting of seventies suburbia, where everyone seems to know everyone else. The Lisbon house itself, and its gradual and inevitable decay that mirrors the decay of the family inside, is also very well described. The use of the first person plural pronoun “we” as the narrator is an interesting and bold choice but is excellently handled and gives a clear sense of the mob mentality of the neighbourhood boys (who later become men). While many of them are named and described as individuals, by using “we” they blend into a sort of homogenous group that parallels how they see the Lisbon sisters. 

However, the vivid descriptions take up the bulk of the novel to the extent that the story moves painfully slowly, to the point where I had been waiting for the rest of the suicides to occur for so long that I was almost relieved when they did. It even could have been cut down to an excellent short story, but as it is the prose is rather difficult to get through and there are so many unnecessary tangents where the timeline confusingly switches between past when the girls’ suicides happen and present when the now fully grown men are investigating them. Furthermore, the extent that these poor girls have been put on a pedestal by these men (who barely knew them, merely watched them from afar!) over years (decades, even) of morbid obsession made me deeply uncomfortable. It seems to romanticise their mental illnesses in a rather dangerous way. 

I can appreciate the fact that this book has some very well-written prose, but in the end is just wasn’t for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Alcohol, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

Moderate: Ableism, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexual content

Minor: Vomit

lindsaylhunter's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

4.0

This book reads so beautifully. The author has such a way of immersing his readers into a world of melancholy. All things said, I refuse to believe boys actually get on this way. Maybe the whole point was to show the narrators' flaws for what they are, but some of the monologue reads as downright creepy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Self harm, Child death, Confinement, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Rape, Ableism, Suicide attempt, Racial slurs, and Suicide

obsessedfairies's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Ableism

pastelbanana1's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Self harm, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Alcohol and Pregnancy

Minor: Racial slurs and Ableism