Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

1984 by George Orwell

194 reviews

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

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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

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Content Warnings

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

elizajstocks's review against another edition

dark reflective tense slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, and Gaslighting

Minor: Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, and War

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. 
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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!

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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

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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

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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

izzydelaya's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Cursing, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Violence, Stalking, Murder, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Child death, Genocide, Infidelity, Slavery, Antisemitism, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Colonisation

vintage_library's review against another edition

dark sad tense 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? No

2.0

I was disappointed with this book. I really liked Animal Farm, but this fell short of my expectations. At times I felt myself struggling to read the next page. It would be very good as an academic essay about the ways in which people can be controlled, but it was difficult to get into as a story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Gaslighting

softgirlari's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-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

3.75

feels quite slow but paced for the majority of the book, not much happens and feels dragged out, but then gets interesting and thought-provoking towards the end 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Moderate: Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, and Classism

Minor: Suicide and Police brutality

rachael_jo's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Torture, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Sexual content