Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

1984 by George Orwell

188 reviews

moscatel's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

não dei 5 estrelas porque há aspetos demasiado estúpidos, como

o início da relação do winston e da julia

, o orwell nem tentou

e fiquei chateado com o final.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Police brutality, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Vomit and War

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Suicide

laughingkatana's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

I completely understand why this book is a staple in the U.S., I understand the messages it hold, and I even see why people like it, but I did not enjoy the book even slightly. It is incredibly boring and drawn out. The author paints a tedious life through tedious writing and description. The only plus is how in depth the dive into the main characters thoughts and emotions is. I'm glad I read it, but honestly probably wouldn't recommend.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, and Classism

getjinxed's review against another edition

dark 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

0.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, and War

ono_odog's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual content

finnft4's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense 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

The book equivalent of being carsick.

It wasn't awful, but I didn't enjoy reading it at all. Think of a book that is 75% world building, but the world itself is insanely mundane and uninteresting.

Fahrenheit 451 uses the same concept and executes it in a much better, more interesting way.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Torture, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Forced institutionalization

Minor: Sexual assault

lucasgillon's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

4.0

If you ignore the political theory section then you're a coward

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting

Moderate: Child death, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Abandonment

mganallirt's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, and Gaslighting

welllovedspines's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

TL;DR: This book should be required reading. It's one that I will continue to revisit in the future, which will either be terrifying in its accuracy or reassuring that we aren't quite at the dystopic reality in Orwell's classic work. Not an easy read, but one I consider to be vital. However, we can't overlook Orwell's problematic writings. 
_____

I truly cannot believe it took me as long as it did to finally read this book. I was a huge fan of Animal Farm in high school and enjoyed the allegoric nature of the book. 1984 is also in that vein. 

I think what shocked me the most while reading was the fact that the book was written in the 1940s and that there were clear parallels that could be drawn from the dystopian future in the novel and the current society in which we live. I had audibly gasped or said, "wow", numerous times while reading. And that's not something that happens very often for me. 

I think my overall enjoyment while reading this book stemmed more from the plot and the world that had been created, as opposed to the writing itself. There is definitely a difference in how literature was written in Orwell's time versus contemporary literature. And that's not something I have an issue with. It was more so that the writing is rather matter of fact. If the plot wasn't as engrossing for me, I'm not sure that my rating would be nearly as high. 

Another thing I want to point out is some problematic aspects to Orwell's writings. The main female character in this book leaves a lot to be desired. She's barely even a character at all (i.e., Manic Pixie Dream Girl). There are other works of his where there have been racist depictions of people from various ethnic backgrounds.

Despite my overall enjoyment of this book, and really the ending was just...wow, I fully believe that a reader needs to be aware of these problematic depictions. Glossing over them can lead to internalized biases that we never intended to absorb. Staying aware and being critical of such aspects in any work helps to ensure that we continue to do better in the future.  So, I definitely encourage reading the book, but be sure to have your critical reading cap on!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and Gaslighting

margaret_s_library's review against another edition

dark informative 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Torture, Police brutality, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Xenophobia, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and War

Minor: Toxic friendship

mme_carton's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Grief