Scan barcode
margaret_s_library's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Death, and Ableism
grace_cr1's review against another edition
fast-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
3.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Violence, Misogyny, Death, Abandonment, Animal death, and Confinement
perth_is's review
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Animal death, Confinement, Animal cruelty, and Body horror
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Vomit
a_wren_that_reads's review against another edition
dark
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Confinement, and Death
iinasomnia's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
olddustjacket's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, and Grief
Moderate: Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Abandonment
melisayasilem's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
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
3.0
Kitabın bu baskısının sonunda ilanlı gibi açıklayıcı bir bölüm (yazardan mektuplar, yazışmalar) içermeyen bir baskıyı okuyanların kafası elbette karışacaktır diye düşünüyorum. Özellikle de edebî eserleri yorumlamaya alışık olmayanların. Gregor'un işine ne olduğu da hiç daha sonra hiç bahsedilmedi, beni meraklandıran şeylerden biriydi bu. Kız kardeşinin de neden hızlı bir şekilde durum değiştirdiği de yeterince açıklanmadı, sadece bir okur olarak artık bıktığı şeklinde yorumlayabildim. Çok güzel şeyler duyduğum bir kitaptı. Anlamı güzel fakat anlamı kitaptan çok da çıkarılamayan bir kitap. Bazı kitaplar vardır ya okura ne demeye çalıştığını adeta zorlatmadan hissettirir, bu öyle bir kitap değildi. Sonradan insanların yorumlarıyla "Aa, bu bunun için bir metaformuş." denecek bir kitaptı.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, and Animal death
monim6's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Body horror
lizardgod's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
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? Yes
- Negative one star on personal review
- Personal review is as following:
- 'I hated this story. Woe is me, a poor man. I just work and now I am bug. I must now reflect as everyone shoes me away as they once were afraid to. Oh yeah and my sister is mighty fine if you know what I mean. Gross.'
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Confinement, Animal death, Physical abuse, Torture, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Abandonment
bookish_bry's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I really enjoyed reading this book. Well, perhaps enjoyed is not the right word. I appreciated this book a lot. It is a metaphor for someone who becomes invalid either because of a physical or mental illness. (Likely both as they often go hand in hand.) It details how in a lot of cases a person's family might end up treating someone who is no longer "useful". Gregor had been his families main support, but one day he woke up unable to work anymore. True in this story it's because he ended up a bug, but the idea is very real.
I like the way we saw three different ways someone could react to a situation like this.
Gregor's sister becomes his main caregiver. She is young and both seems to resent her role as caretaker and at times relishes it. She wants to be the only one caring for Gregor and for him to depend on her often more than he already does.
Gregor's mother treats him like he's dead and talks about him "coming back" even though this is clearly a permanent change. The sight of him sickens her and scares her. She still has some affection for him, enough to defend him from his father sometimes, but is a horrific affection to her. Like loving a urn filled with his remains.
Then, Gregor's father of course hates him. He resorts to physical violence almost immediately. Despite the fact that Gregor had spent his life trying to pay off his father's debts (who in the end really... did not seem as invalid as Gregor had thought of him considering he was able to get a job to pay his own debts), he held no regard for Gregor once he was useless to him.
I found the extended metaphor intriguing and well done. As someone who just got off crutches after a knee injury and who at times was a sickly, but overachieving, child, I can sympathize with Gregor a lot. Especially in the first chapter, he continued to try to get up and go to work even though something was clearly very, very wrong. These thoughts that he should be able to do things like he used to for his family continued to crop up to the end.
Overall, I thought it was a very solid book and a great metaphor. Though I do think you have to make sure to keep the fact that it is a metaphor in mind while reading. 5/5
Gregor's sister becomes his main caregiver. She is young and both seems to resent her role as caretaker and at times relishes it. She wants to be the only one caring for Gregor and for him to depend on her often more than he already does.
Gregor's mother treats him like he's dead and talks about him "coming back" even though this is clearly a permanent change. The sight of him sickens her and scares her. She still has some affection for him, enough to defend him from his father sometimes, but is a horrific affection to her. Like loving a urn filled with his remains.
Then, Gregor's father of course hates him. He resorts to physical violence almost immediately. Despite the fact that Gregor had spent his life trying to pay off his father's debts (who in the end really... did not seem as invalid as Gregor had thought of him considering he was able to get a job to pay his own debts), he held no regard for Gregor once he was useless to him.
I found the extended metaphor intriguing and well done. As someone who just got off crutches after a knee injury and who at times was a sickly, but overachieving, child, I can sympathize with Gregor a lot. Especially in the first chapter, he continued to try to get up and go to work even though something was clearly very, very wrong. These thoughts that he should be able to do things like he used to for his family continued to crop up to the end.
Overall, I thought it was a very solid book and a great metaphor. Though I do think you have to make sure to keep the fact that it is a metaphor in mind while reading. 5/5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Mental illness, Body horror, and Death
This book is about a man turning into an insect and acting like one.