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star_g1rl's review against another edition
dark
reflective
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? Yes
3.75
This is a good book to read because it’s a classic and the one of the first of dystopian fiction, but there are many better reads and there’s strong antisemitism and sexism throughout. Also, it has a dark ending and emphasizes that society is doomed
Content Warnings
Minor: Antisemitism, Hate crime, and Rape
catsteaandabook's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture and Violence
Minor: Rape
natalie_ann's review against another edition
dark
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? It's complicated
3.0
The plot was too slow. Not enough happened, and the ending was not satisfying at all. I get that that's kind of the point but I didn't enjoy reading it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Vomit
nicichels's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Loved the writing style but it kind of lacked depth. Still a good book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture
Minor: Rape and Vomit
wun4's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I hate all of the characters (except for Parsons). Y'all suck! Gosh, I thought betraying someone during torture would never get worse than Sotnikov! As a worldbuilding piece, as a statement, as commentary and as something you read and say "Oh, what the fuck.", it's beautiful. There's also a lot of foreshadowing all over, which i love a lot. As anything else, eeh. The plot stands as a tool to show it off to everyone who wouldn't read a big-ass essay about totalitarism. You do it in the middle of the book, though. Julia had the right reaction to it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Violence, and War
Moderate: Antisemitism, Racism, and Rape
te_ss_i's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, War, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, Violence, Antisemitism, Colonisation, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Xenophobia, Grief, Rape, Death, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Genocide, Mental illness, Classism, Confinement, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture
_jennilein_'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Death, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: War
Minor: Blood, Rape, Addiction, Slavery, and Antisemitism
meesh150's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
The best part of the book was when Winston gets tortured.
No but in all seriousness, I do understand the political relevance but I feel like what most people fail to remember or realize is that this was written as a satirical. The world that Orwell created was definitely promising plot wise & probably even more so in the 40s/50s. But I’d say the execution wasn’t perfect or even that interesting for that matter. Maybe I’m biased because of the blatant misogyny (ie. the fact that it sounds like Orwell has never spoken to a real life woman and therefore created a ridiculous fantasy of his in the character of Julia) and seeing as I am reading this in the 21st century but I believe readers can read the introduction or a summary of this book and understand it for it’s main purpose without having to put themselves through the entirety of this book.
Hope this helps.
No but in all seriousness, I do understand the political relevance but I feel like what most people fail to remember or realize is that this was written as a satirical. The world that Orwell created was definitely promising plot wise & probably even more so in the 40s/50s. But I’d say the execution wasn’t perfect or even that interesting for that matter. Maybe I’m biased because of the blatant misogyny (ie. the fact that it sounds like Orwell has never spoken to a real life woman and therefore created a ridiculous fantasy of his in the character of Julia) and seeing as I am reading this in the 21st century but I believe readers can read the introduction or a summary of this book and understand it for it’s main purpose without having to put themselves through the entirety of this book.
Hope this helps.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture
Moderate: Alcoholism, Slavery, and War
Minor: Rape
aayatisbooktok's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture and Violence
Minor: Rape
misscaroline09's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
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? It's complicated
2.5
4.5 stars for the last third of the book, 0-2 stars for the first two thirds.
You can read a quick character overview of 3 people (Winston, Julia, and O’Brien), then skip like 18 chapters to Part 3 of the book, and probably get far more out of it than you would if you read the whole thing.
The first two parts of the book have the potential to be interesting, but then basically nothing happens for most of it and also I hate everyone. I normally like characters with their personalities, but these people are just insufferable. I tried to justify it by saying to myself, “They’re intentionally written this way in order to show how horrible the world is.” But I could only get so far with that thought process before I started to dread reading any more.
Winston straight up talks about [trigger warning, not even gonna say it] and murdering Julia numerous times, then they just laugh it off. Hullo? Also he’s just generally self righteous and spends most of his time stroking is own ego. I swear, there’s one chapter (that’s unnecessarily long) where he just reads stuff that he agrees with, then stops and goes, “Hm, I’m so smart!” then continues reading, like BRUV. PLEASE. Also that chapter is basically a book inside a book, author, why T-T
Julia’s whole character is very “r/MenWritingWomen.” She has no character of her own really, she’s just a body for him to sleep with and a manic pixie dream girl.
O’Brien is the only character I actually found enjoyable. He makes you both comfortable and fearful at the same time. 10/10, I appreciated how he was written.
There were things about this book I did like, and even things about the characters I was into, but they were so few and far between that by the time I got to part 3, I wanted to pry my eyes out. Thankfully, at that point, things started to pick up and the author finally said what he wanted to say. If I ever read this again (unlikely), I’m just gonna skip to the end and I recommend you do the same.
You can read a quick character overview of 3 people (Winston, Julia, and O’Brien), then skip like 18 chapters to Part 3 of the book, and probably get far more out of it than you would if you read the whole thing.
The first two parts of the book have the potential to be interesting, but then basically nothing happens for most of it and also I hate everyone. I normally like characters with their personalities, but these people are just insufferable. I tried to justify it by saying to myself, “They’re intentionally written this way in order to show how horrible the world is.” But I could only get so far with that thought process before I started to dread reading any more.
Winston straight up talks about [trigger warning, not even gonna say it] and murdering Julia numerous times, then they just laugh it off. Hullo? Also he’s just generally self righteous and spends most of his time stroking is own ego. I swear, there’s one chapter (that’s unnecessarily long) where he just reads stuff that he agrees with, then stops and goes, “Hm, I’m so smart!” then continues reading, like BRUV. PLEASE. Also that chapter is basically a book inside a book, author, why T-T
Julia’s whole character is very “r/MenWritingWomen.” She has no character of her own really, she’s just a body for him to sleep with and a manic pixie dream girl.
O’Brien is the only character I actually found enjoyable. He makes you both comfortable and fearful at the same time. 10/10, I appreciated how he was written.
There were things about this book I did like, and even things about the characters I was into, but they were so few and far between that by the time I got to part 3, I wanted to pry my eyes out. Thankfully, at that point, things started to pick up and the author finally said what he wanted to say. If I ever read this again (unlikely), I’m just gonna skip to the end and I recommend you do the same.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Torture
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Rape and Sexual violence